The downside of cyberspace: Cheating made easy

This article explores the actual and potential misuses of the World Wide We b in regard to access to "paper mills" and other information sources that m ake plagiarism relatively easy. The authors describe their experience acces sing such paper mill products and present results of a quasi-experiment in which participants graded three papers: one an actual student submission an d two purchased off the Internet. Findings suggest reason for concern about student misuse of the World Wide Web. The authors argue that different str ategies for the design of class assignments must be considered by all educa tional programs to diminish enhanced opportunities for "cybercheating."