The ORS Moves to iThenticate

The ORS moves to Protect Against Plagiarism in Grant Application Submissions

Last Spring the UMKC Office of Research joined a number of universities taking steps to avoid unreferenced or copied material in grant application submissions by launching the voluntary use of iThenticate, a cloud-based plagiarism detection utility.   iThenticate, the worldwide leading plagiarism detection technology, is used by a growing list of scholarly publishers, academic institutions, and funding sponsors including the NIH, NSF, DoE, CDC and others.  In the case of grant application submissions, plagiarism can be unintentional, yet the consequences for allowing a submission to go forward with unreferenced or unintentionally plagiarized material can be devastating not only to the investigator but to the institution as well.

In order to protect our faculty, students and the institution itself, the ORS is, at present, offering voluntary iThenticate pre-screening of grant applications prior to submission.  The service should not delay submission since it can be accomplished and analyzed in less than an hour.  However, it is recommended that pre-screening take place a few days before the ORS submission deadline such that any necessary corrective measures can take place prior to final submission.  It is envisioned that mandatory screening will become standard operating procedure within a year or two since this is the direction being taken by all major institutions.

 

For additional information on the iThenticate service see: ORS Plagiarism Prevention