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iParadigms, creators of Turnitin and the leader in originality checking and plagiarism prevention, today announced the results of a new plagiarism study which shows that social and user-generated web sites are the most popular resources for student copying, followed by academic and homework-related sites

In his years of teaching, chemistry senior lecturer said he has witnessed numerous forms of misconduct, discovering students listening to lectures, studying note cards and accessing course material on bathroom breaks during exams.

Before assigning term papers for literature composition class at Gavilan College in Gilroy, Steve Schessler takes time to discuss something that has tormented teachers from the beginning of time – or at least the beginning of homework assignments. The subject he broaches is plagiarism, and a show of hands reveals that his students are not exactly clear on the concept.

The frontier in the battle to defeat student cheating may be here at the testing center of the University of Central Florida. As the eternal temptation of students to cheat has gone high-tech – not just on exams, but also by cutting and pasting from the Internet and sharing of homework online like music files – educators have responded with their own efforts to crack down.

Could student plagiarism actually be reduced? And could it be reduced not through fear of being caught, but through... education? The evidence in a study released earlier in January suggests that the answer to both questions is 'yes' - which could be welcome news to academics who constantly complain about students who either don't know what plagiarism is or do not follow the rules about the integrity of assignments.

Four-week masters and doctorate degrees – and even undergraduate courses – are being offered over the Internet with no official recognition. Hence, the problem arises later when students seek admission to other universities, pass the entrance exam, but cannot enrol as their qualification is not recognised. In Latin America the demand for higher education is so great that people let themselves get sucked in.

The education minister has said that secondary-school graduation diplomas awarded from this year on would be designed and prepared by his department and incorporate security features to make them forgery-proof. He added that the certificates would be free of charge and hence neither school heads nor school boards could receive payment for them.

Last year, the ombudsman for Andalusia received 150 complaints over the enrolment process, according to the 2008 report just published. This is why he favours harsher penalties for fraudulent applications as there are no clear-cut punitive measures that set an example. However, the province's education ministry maintains that punishment is not the best response, so no sanctions will be taken.