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Anti-plagiarism software....

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GoonSquad
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28 Sep 2014, 1:17 pm

Pretty much all my professors are using this stuff now. It doesn't really bother me, but it does make me very reluctant to repost any of my academic writing...

What do you guy's think about this? Anybody had a bad experience (accused of plagiarism) because of this type of software.

Doing peer editing, I've seen a lot of copy-pasta passed off as original work. I can't help but think life is much harder these days for people who try that.


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calstar2
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28 Sep 2014, 2:06 pm

I do not like it really, because as more and more gets imputed into the software, more false positives for plagiarism will come up.



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28 Sep 2014, 2:19 pm

I always thought that it was a great idea. I was tired of putting effort into my writing and knowing that plagiarizing morons were passing with no more effort than a google search. Then again, I don't know much about how it works.

calstar2 wrote:
I do not like it really, because as more and more gets imputed into the software, more false positives for plagiarism will come up.


Do you mean input? I didn't know that the software saved the writing that was input.



GoonSquad
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28 Sep 2014, 2:40 pm

starkid wrote:
I always thought that it was a great idea. I was tired of putting effort into my writing and knowing that plagiarizing morons were passing with no more effort than a google search. Then again, I don't know much about how it works.

calstar2 wrote:
I do not like it really, because as more and more gets imputed into the software, more false positives for plagiarism will come up.


Do you mean input? I didn't know that the software saved the writing that was input.


Depending on the software, everything submitted does get stored into a database. This is done so that people cannot steal from/copy your work, but also to discourage people from recycling their own papers.


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calstar2
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28 Sep 2014, 2:52 pm

starkid wrote:
calstar2 wrote:
I do not like it really, because as more and more gets imputed into the software, more false positives for plagiarism will come up.


Do you mean input? I didn't know that the software saved the writing that was input.


Yes, and I have no idea how I messed that up. Long day and slightly embarrassed :oops:



Protogenoi
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28 Sep 2014, 5:26 pm

starkid wrote:
I always thought that it was a great idea. I was tired of putting effort into my writing and knowing that plagiarizing morons were passing with no more effort than a google search. Then again, I don't know much about how it works.

calstar2 wrote:
I do not like it really, because as more and more gets imputed into the software, more false positives for plagiarism will come up.


Do you mean input? I didn't know that the software saved the writing that was input.


Many of them will add all work that is cross referenced into the database for future cross referencing.
I have only faced the software once and when I read the terms and conditions, I saw that it was trying to steal my work for use in something I have criticized in writing. It would force me to place a copyright on my work, which I don't tend to want. I told the teacher that I refused to submit I work through the software and that I refused to sign the terms and conditions. The teacher didn't like that, but apparently there is a law here that prevents students from being forced to sign terms and conditions for third parties.



GoonSquad
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28 Sep 2014, 6:37 pm

Protogenoi wrote:

Many of them will add all work that is cross referenced into the database for future cross referencing.
I have only faced the software once and when I read the terms and conditions, I saw that it was trying to steal my work for use in something I have criticized in writing. It would force me to place a copyright on my work, which I don't tend to want. I told the teacher that I refused to submit I work through the software and that I refused to sign the terms and conditions. The teacher didn't like that, but apparently there is a law here that prevents students from being forced to sign terms and conditions for third parties.


That's VERY interesting.

Would you mind naming the particular software and elaborate on how it was trying to steal your work?


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28 Sep 2014, 10:00 pm

GoonSquad wrote:
Protogenoi wrote:

Many of them will add all work that is cross referenced into the database for future cross referencing.
I have only faced the software once and when I read the terms and conditions, I saw that it was trying to steal my work for use in something I have criticized in writing. It would force me to place a copyright on my work, which I don't tend to want. I told the teacher that I refused to submit I work through the software and that I refused to sign the terms and conditions. The teacher didn't like that, but apparently there is a law here that prevents students from being forced to sign terms and conditions for third parties.


That's VERY interesting.

Would you mind naming the particular software and elaborate on how it was trying to steal your work?

It was called Safe Assign.

"Unless submitted as a draft, I understand that my paper will be added to this institutional database for comparison of future papers against my work."

The institution would then have a copy of my paper and use it frequently. I felt it was stealing that they would require full access to my paper for all time without compensation. Also, a bill at the time that this happened wanted to give the copyrights of all submitted papers to the university rather than to the student, if the university had permission to retain a copy. That was unacceptable, and would have been more tangible stealing. The program requires that a copyright be placed on the submitted paper, either my right or theirs.

I also don't like how vague that statement is.



GoonSquad
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28 Sep 2014, 10:11 pm

Protogenoi wrote:
GoonSquad wrote:
Protogenoi wrote:

Many of them will add all work that is cross referenced into the database for future cross referencing.
I have only faced the software once and when I read the terms and conditions, I saw that it was trying to steal my work for use in something I have criticized in writing. It would force me to place a copyright on my work, which I don't tend to want. I told the teacher that I refused to submit I work through the software and that I refused to sign the terms and conditions. The teacher didn't like that, but apparently there is a law here that prevents students from being forced to sign terms and conditions for third parties.


That's VERY interesting.

Would you mind naming the particular software and elaborate on how it was trying to steal your work?

It was called Safe Assign.

"Unless submitted as a draft, I understand that my paper will be added to this institutional database for comparison of future papers against my work."

The institution would then have a copy of my paper and use it frequently. I felt it was stealing that they would require full access to my paper for all time without compensation. Also, a bill at the time that this happened wanted to give the copyrights of all submitted papers to the university rather than to the student, if the university had permission to retain a copy. That was unacceptable, and would have been more tangible stealing. The program requires that a copyright be placed on the submitted paper, either my right or theirs.

I also don't like how vague that statement is.


From http://kb.blackboard.com/display/SAFE/Terms+of+Use
Quote:
4. User Content
You and your end-users agree that any of your end-users' papers that are submitted ("User Content") as part of the Services, is and remains your sole property or the property of such end-user. By uploading or otherwise making available any User Content, you and your end-user automatically warrant that the owner has the right to transmit the User Content to SAFEASSIGN? and that such User Content may be utilized for the purpose of plagiarism detection and prevention. To the extent that your end-user authorizes the inclusion of the User Content in our Global Database, you agree that Blackboard may maintain a copy of such User Content indefinitely and may use the same for the purpose of plagiarism detection and prevention for other utilizing the Services.


I don't know, but I think you might be over reacting a bit. The ToU states that your paper remains your paper and that safeassign will only use/keep a copy for the purpose of detecting plagiarism.

They'd actually be protecting your work, not stealing it.


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Protogenoi
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28 Sep 2014, 10:28 pm

GoonSquad wrote:
From http://kb.blackboard.com/display/SAFE/Terms+of+Use
Quote:
4. User Content
You and your end-users agree that any of your end-users' papers that are submitted ("User Content") as part of the Services, is and remains your sole property or the property of such end-user. By uploading or otherwise making available any User Content, you and your end-user automatically warrant that the owner has the right to transmit the User Content to SAFEASSIGN? and that such User Content may be utilized for the purpose of plagiarism detection and prevention. To the extent that your end-user authorizes the inclusion of the User Content in our Global Database, you agree that Blackboard may maintain a copy of such User Content indefinitely and may use the same for the purpose of plagiarism detection and prevention for other utilizing the Services.


I don't know, but I think you might be over reacting a bit. The ToU states that your paper remains your paper and that safeassign will only use/keep a copy for the purpose of detecting plagiarism.

They'd actually be protecting your work, not stealing it.

I don't remember it being stated like that, maybe they updated the policy to help calm concerns. The quote I gave was taken directly from the policy last year when I came across Safe Assign. I copied it out of an old email.

The papers are held at an institutional level though. I don't trust the institution I am at, it has faced a lot of human right violation lawsuits over the last few years.