UCSD CAMPUS NOTICE University of California, San Diego
OFFICE OF THE SENIOR VICE CHANCELLOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS OFFICE OF THE VICE CHANCELLOR STUDENT AFFAIRS January 3, 2002 ALL INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF KEY ADMINISTRATORS/KEY SUPPORT STAFF SUBJECT:  UCSD Employs "The Web" to Detect Plagiarism and                      Protect Integrity of Academic Work In an effort to support UCSD's Policy on Academic Integrity, UCSD has entered into a two-year contract with iParadigms, Inc., to employ "Turnitin.com." Turnitin.com is a web-based system designed to detect plagiarism and protect the integrity of academic work, such as essays, research papers, manuscripts, and dissertations. It is being made available to all faculty and instructional staff to use beginning in the Winter Quarter 2002. "Turnitin.com" was used on a trial basis last Winter and Spring Quarters with encouraging results. The service is designed to compare academic work submitted to Turnitin.com's web site with a vast number of documents located within Turnitin.com's database or available on the internet. The results of this screening are reported electronically to the instructor. When matches are found, Turnitin.com provides links to the website or the e-mail address of the custodian of the matching materials for follow-up evaluation to determine if the text was plagiarized. If Turnitin.com determines that matching material exists, it raises a "red flag" for the instructor to review the document carefully to make sure that the matching material has its sources identified and is properly cited. Students submitting work that isn't properly cited or footnoted may simply need additional information on how to properly footnote or cite works, or they may be charged with an allegation of plagiarism. If an allegation of academic misconduct is warranted, the instructor should follow the guidelines for reporting a case of academic misconduct described in the "UCSD Instructor's Guide for Preventing and Processing Incidents of Academic Dishonesty." It can be accessed at: http://ugr8.ucsd.edu/judicial/ad-guide.html. Funding for this service is provided by the Council of Provosts and the Vice Chancellor-Student Affairs in order that instructors may participate without charge to their departments. The Office of Student Policies and Judicial Affairs (SPJA) will provide administrative support to instructors participating in the program. This includes setting up access to the Turnitin.com website, providing orientation information for students and instructors on the use of the service, and serving as the campus liaison with Turnitin.com. Instructors wishing to utilize the service, can contact Tommy Agee at SPJA, (858) 534-6225, or via e-mail at tommyagee@ucsd.edu for more information.                                                 Marsha A. Chandler                                                 Senior Vice Chancellor-Academic Affairs                                                 Joseph W. Watson                                                 Vice Chancellor-Student Affairs