Deterring research paper plagiarism with technology: Establishing a department-level electronic research paper database with e-mail.

Academic dishonesty is a serious and increasing problem in higher education. The authors describe a procedure to store, sort, and search student research papers submitted via e-mail. The objective of the research paper database is to assist in creating an educational climate promoting high academic honesty. Procedures were noted documenting the convenience and efficiency in identifying student papers warranting further scrutiny for originality. A small random sample of student research papers submitted for course credit in previous semesters was evaluated for originality of content. Results suggest that the database has value in discouraging some forms of academic dishonesty. The database provides a measure of certainty in detecting instances of academic dishonesty such as a cut and paste from a website or submitting a paper that was submitted in a previous semester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]