To continue archiving information on Turnitin and other plagiarism detection software, I wanted to post this link to the editorial Charlie and I just published in the American Federation of Teachers newsletter: What teachers should know about plagiarism software

This in via the NCTE Inbox today:

UT Student Sues School, Says It Slandered Her

"TAMPA - A University of Tampa student is suing the university and a professor, saying they slandered her by accusing her of plagiarism and calling a panel that supported the charge 'a kangaroo court.'"

Other than the fact that a school plagiarism charge may be settled in court--apparently this is the first time--a couple of other interesting items:

1) The student claims to have included the sources allegedly plagiarized in the bibliography. Maybe this will stimulate conversation about the differences between plagiarism and poor attribution and make the plagiarism police a little more hesitant to trounce on students who do the latter.

2) I doubt we'll see this case mentioned in any Turnitin testimonials. The paper was originally submitted to Turnitin.com which found no evidence of plagiarism.

On the front page of the Region section in the Grand Rapids Press for today is an excellent story discussing issues with Turnitin plagiarism detection software. The position statement written by Julie, Ellen, and I was mentioned as was the CCCC-IP statement.

The story notes that GVSU paid $18,000 for Turnitin even though there were only 49 cases of academic dishonesty reported at GVSU last year and the number is on the decline. Perhaps this means that they are simply not being reported or that students aren't being caught.

So now I'm curious. What are the reported number of cases at institutions? How much has that changed due to Turnitin? What is the cost for catching those cases (in terms of software subscription), and would the instructor have detected the text as plagiarized without it?

Lots of new commentary and news regarding Turnitin and plagiarism detection in the last week or two:

• Manatee schools confront cheating's multimillion-dollar industry. The Bradenton Herald reports about local school decisions in Florida regarding purchasing plagiarism detection software.
• Thoughts on Turnitin.com. A community college dean gives his perspective on Turnitin through his anonymous blog.
• GV faculty members debate use of Web site. The Grand Valley Lanthorn covers the position statement we submitted at GVSU. (I should also mention that this story is written by one of our GVSU writing center consultants. Some of them have become active regarding Turnitin.)
• Plagiarism and Copyright. Info/Law blogger Derek Bambauer is discussing copyright issues associated with storing student papers in PDS databases.
• KU renews anti-plagiarism software subscription. Looks like Turnitin gave Kansas University a killer deal to keep them as a customer. Perhaps all of this negative press will at least force them to lower their prices. And give credit to the Writing Center at KU. They will have the ability to remove student papers from the database (link courtesy of Wired Campus Blog).
• The Politics of Plagiarism Detection Services. Andy Carvin discusses the McLean High School story. Thanks to Stephen Downes for the link.
• Turnitin Sucks. Who could resist reading Barry Dahl's post when it has a title like this? Barry has assembled various quotes and resources in his critique.
• The Plagiarist as Pokémon. And let's give credit to Mike Edwards for not only thoughtful reflection and discussion, but somehow managing to tie plagiarism detection to Pokémon.