Coursework.Info - Inspiration in an Instant

4th December, 2006

A guide to help students avoid plagiarism when using the internet for their coursework is published today.

The guide, which can be downloaded from the web, is being launched at the same time as a conference on student plagiarism takes place in London.

Titled Avoid Plagiarism like the Plague, the guide has the backing of Boris Johnson, the Tory MP who has been an outspoken critic of students copying essays to pass their GCSEs and A-levels.

He writes in the guide "We are eroding the distinction in a child's mind between what is their own intellectual achievement and what is a rip-off. I am fairly sure that this is one of the reasons why there has been such an increase in plagiarism at all levels of education. Pupils are used to seeing stuff come off the web, and thinking of it as "theirs".

The guide has been published by Coursework. Info, the UK's largest coursework library and it is aimed aimed at young people to help combat the growing levels of plagiarism. The guide shows students how to use Internet essays as a learning resource to help them pass their exams without cheating.

Pete Taylor, Coursework.Info's Operations Director, said, "We searched for a guide to help avoid plagiarism for young-people we looked to the QCA (Qualifications & Curriculum Authority) , JCQ (Joint Council for Qualifications) etc, and we also checked the three largest examination boards. We found that none of these bodies have a guide for students on referencing other people's work and how to avoid plagiarism. This is ironic since the QCA is changing the coursework elements of qualifications because of plagiarism - but strangely no-one advises students how to avoid it."

The guide is written by a secondary school teacher, and has a foreword by Boris Johnson MP. Avoid Plagiarism like the Plague costs £3.99 but is available free to Coursework.Info members

Today's conference held by the QCA and JISCPAS is due to discuss 'Has increasing technology led to a rise in dishonesty by students and what can be done about the dishonest use of technology in exams and assessments.

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Editor's notes:

• Mr Pete Taylor is the Operations Director of Acumen PI, the holding company which owns www.TheStudentRoom.co.uk and www.Coursework.Info. He is 28 years old and lives in Bristol with his partner and two young children.
• Coursework.Info is the largest coursework library in the UK.
• It is an educational website where GCSE, A Level, IB and University students give permission for their coursework to be viewed online in exchange for access to others' work.
• It contains over 130,000 pieces of coursework, and receives 550,000 visits by students each month.
• For student and teacher testimonials to the benefit of the site see our testimonials page
• Coursework.Info actively discourages plagiarism and offers students clear guidelines on what plagiarism actually is and how to avoid it.
• Acumen PI was the first and only UK Coursework Library to provide all its essays to TurnItIn's world leading plagiarism detection software - a service managed in the UK by JISC's Plagiarism Advisory Service. It is also actively pursuing a Code of Conduct for the industry, with UK Government and education sector authorities.
• Acumen PI also owns www.TheStudentRoom.co.uk - the largest student discussion room in the UK, and one of the largest of the next generation of social networking sites.
• About iParadigms www.iparadigms.com
  iParadigms, LLC (www.iparadigms.com) is the leading provider of web-based solutions to check documents for originality, plagiarism, and for misappropriation. The company's products include: Turnitin® (www.turnitin.com), an internet service used by millions of students and faculty in over 90 countries to vet academic work for originality, enable web-based student collaboration, and provide cutting-edge tools for digital assessment of academic work; and iThenticate TM (www.ithenticate.com), an internet service which enables publishers, news agencies, corporations, law firms, and government agencies to detect piracy or misuse of proprietary information and to conduct document originality due diligence. iParadigms is headquartered in Oakland, CA
• About the JISC Plagiarism Advisory Service (PAS) www.jiscpas.ac.uk
  The JISC PAS provides generic advice and guidance on all aspects of plagiarism prevention and detection for academics and students to around 700 further and higher education institutions in the UK. The service promotes a holistic approach to plagiarism prevention incorporating the consideration of institutional policies and procedures, teaching practice and study skills. The JISC PAS is managed by Northumbria Learning.