PC Weenies turns 12 years old today!!
It’s getting easier and easier to steal content, and more and more students are doing it by virtue of copy and paste. Given the current trend, it’s only a matter of time before term papers will turn into a list of URL attributions. Many students perceive that research means only “web”, and that makes the educator in me very sad.
What are your thoughts on the topic of plagiarism? Is it easier to cheat now than ever before? What are some good resources to keep the cheaters at bay?
-Krishna
P.S. On another subject all together, PC Weenies was voted “Webcomic Pick of the Week” by the fine folks at the spanking new Webcomic Alliance. For webcartoonists and by webcartoonists, the Webcomic Alliance promises to be an invaluable resource for cartoonists of all skill levels. Check ‘em out (and tell ‘em Bob sent ya!) ;)
Here’s a couple of good resources:
http://turnitin.com ($$)
http://www.scanmyessay.com (Free)
It is definitely much easier to plagiarise these days with a simple cut & paste. I know many people who plagiarise over half of their papers without ever getting busted. I am more and more of the opinion that education is now just about making money for the schools instead of actually ensuring the students are learning.
Considering UK University fees are now going up from a maximum of £3000 a year to £7000 I’d say that is true.
It seems the way out of our economic trouble is prevent people getting high paid professional jobs, put us behind other countries, and saddle graduates with tens of thousands of pounds debt before they’re even out the door.
Sorry for the rant. It’s a sore spot for me.
Great resources, Matt. Bookmarked!
Sometimes the web is a far better resource than books anyway. When you need to do a paper on a subjects like technology (which I did a lot of for my degree) most of the books I found were out of date. Published journal articles are good, but they’re mostly online now as well. I used to find them online and cite the printed version.
Krishna, Congratulations. PCWeenies is almost a teenager. Just think, by this time next year, your comic will know everything.
Wow! Congratulations on 12 great years! What an excellent toon to post on the anniversary of your comic. Keep up the great work Krishna, you have given me many chuckles over the years. I always think of your webcomic as being similar in humor to my own webcomic, only funny. :) Congrats again sir!
Thanks, Barry! And thank you GJB as well! Glad you are enjoying the comics. In a few years, PCW will be old enough to drive.
12 Years? AWESOME! Congratulations Krishna!!
You continue to be an inspiration for great art, clean crisp line quality and visual clarity! I’m so jealous it makes me angry!! :-)
Congrats!
Congrats on 12 great years Krishna!! Here’s to 12 more!
Congrats on (WOW!) 12 years!! And an awesome strip to commemorate it with to boot!
Touché. And, congratulations on your annicomicversary!
My only problem with plagiarism is one: people who copy or substantially copy their papers. And two: plagiarism policies that call simple citation errors plagiarism. Most discussions of plagiarism seem to focus on minor errors that, while still errors, don’t rise to the level of plagiarism.
While plagiarism is easier today, it was still common before the internet. I’m just glad it’s easier to catch.
Heh, when I was in upper elementary, I guy in my class copypasted an article from a gaming website. When he showed it to us (and confessed he had copypasted, though he seemed rather proud of not having done any work) we noticed the first paragraph had three spelling errors. He didn’t turn it in, opting to look lazy instead of looking bad.