Online Plagiarism Spotted: What to Do?

“Okay, now the big question: Do we turn this student in? (has anyone already?) I think the idea of having your work reviewed by a large viewing public is cool, especially if it helps enforce better scholarly standards. That is one thing no one ever mentions when they talk about online journals–the ease with which shoddy academic work can be exposed.” EMason

[A student posts a history of videogames. An impressed reader posts it to KairosNews, where I find it and begin quibbling with a few minor details. Then, I stumble across long passages that I recognize from another website. Thanks to Google, the plagiarism is easily exposed. What happens now?

P.S. The student’s domain name is “StupidMike”.

Update: Rosemary Frezza found what appears to be the curricular web page for this assignment, which includes the following quote: “You will be able to explain the societal and ethical implications of this technology… Research skills will be developed through topic definition and finding of graphical and sound files”. She also supplies the URL for the professor’s teaching philosophy page, which includes the following quote: “develop individuals who take responsibility for their actions in independent as well as in group learning, and further, in society”. I wonder how this will play out.–DGJ] —Online Plagiarism Spotted: What to Do?KairosNews)