We continue our discussion of plagiarism. Last week, we said/ colleges and universities/ in the United States/ define plagiarism/ as representing another person's work/ as your own. It is considered/ a kind of cheating.

Professors/ at American colleges/ have tried many ways/ to stop student plagiarism.

Some use online detection services. They also may discuss plagiarism/ with their students/ at the start/ of every term. Some/ require their students/ to turn in early versions/ of term papers and essays/ they are writing. This makes it/ more difficult/ for students/ to buy papers/ from companies/ that some/ call "plagiarism mills" or "essay mills."

A recent report/ in The Chronicle of Higher Education/ described such businesses. Many/ can be found/ on the Internet. They sell newly written papers/ on many subjects. The cost/ depends on the difficulty of the subject/ and how soon the paper is needed. The cost/ could be from twenty to forty dollars a page.

Such companies say/ their writers/ have advanced degrees, and will target the papers/ to any educational level. Investigators say/ the writers/ may be working/ in countries/ like India, Nigeria or Indonesia/ and are poorly paid. Most of these companies say/ their work/ should only be used/ as models/ and should not be turned in/ as a finished work. But students/ do it/ anyway.

Some students claim/ that they order such papers/ as a way/ to organize their research. But many also say/ they do not have enough time/ to do the work themselves/ and are under great pressure/ to do well/ in school.

University of Notre Dame anthropology professor Susan Blum/ wrote about this/ in a new book, "My Word! Plagiarism and College Culture." She writes/ that academic cheating/ is a result/ of communication failure/ between students and professors. And she says/ international students/ must be sure/ they know the rules of the college/ they are attending.

Plagiarism/ may also be a problem/ in other countries. A recent e-mail/ to us/ from Iran/ described an incident/ in an English class. Students/ were supposed to research tourist places/ in Iran. But one student/ copied information/ from a book. The student/ changed "China"/ to "Iran"/ but forgot to change the names/ of the places. When the teacher/ asked about his research, he said: "One of the most beautiful tourist places/ in Iran/ is Shanghai."