Homework Helper Plagiarizes Anti-Plagiarism Article

KissofEase, a site that promises to help with “free online homework help” among several other services, was recently accused of plagiarizing much of the content for it’s anti-cheating article, entitled “Cheating – Is it Really Worth It?” Specifically, a site administrator (Note: It is unclear whether he is the main administrator or just one of several) named Ket is accused of lifting the “academic excuses” section of the article directly from Penn State University’s anti-plagiarism guide.

Ket, for his part, denied the allegations and said that “I myself know that neither did I plagarize nor would I try to plagarize.” He went on to say that the intent of the article was clear and he “knew way before hand [sic] that there will obviously be some people against my website [sic] because ‘smart’ people don’t want anyone else to be able to succed [sic].”

Though his theory is fascinating, the evidence seems to speak a very different language.

For example, item one underneath the Penn State “Excuses and Penalties” section of their Cheating and Plagiarism module reads as follows:

I. “I’m too busy.”
Maybe you think you have too many credits or are working too many hours to be able to complete your assignments. However, it is your responsibility to make sure you have scheduled adequate time to complete all your assignments.

If you discover that you do not have enough time to complete an assignment, it is far better to discuss your situation with your instructor or TA than to commit plagiarism.

The worst that can happen to you in this situation, is that you fail the class and have to retake it. While failing a class is embarrassing and retaking it is inconvenient, it is not as bad as being found guilty of academic dishonesty and receiving sanctions (see below).

The same section on the KissofEase article reads as follows:

I. “I’m too busy.”
Maybe you think you have too many credits or are working too many hours to be able to complete your assignments. However, it is your responsibility to make sure you have scheduled adequate time to complete all your assignments.

If you discover that you do not have enough time to complete an assignment, it is far better to discuss your situation with your instructor or TA than to commit plagiarism.

The worst that can happen to you in this situation, is that you fail the class and have to retake it. While failing a class is embarrassing and retaking it is inconvenient, it is not as bad as being found guilty of academic dishonesty and receiving sanctions (see below).

As you can see, they are exactly identical. Though other passages in the section had minor changes, usually to remove anything that referred directly to Penn State’s policies or site, the entire section was almost identical, verbatim, to the original.

KissofEase, since the story broke, edited the article to include a note crediting the original source of the work. However, as of this writing, they have not taken the work down or rewritten it to replace the infringing passages.

In the end, it’s probably the most disturbing incident of plagiairism I have heard of. Plagiarizing an anti-plagiarism article not only destroys the credibility of the anti-plagiarism movement, but is als0 very picture of hypocrisy.

After all, the very definition of the word is saying one thing when doing another. This article says not to plagiarize and not to cheat when, in fact, the article itself is a plagiarism.

It’s a sad case to say the least…

Article Comparison:

KissofEase Version: Click Here
Penn State University Version: Click Here

[tags]Plagiarism, Content Theft, Copyright[/tags]