مجلة قبس للدراسات الإنسانية والاجتماعية
Volume 9, Numéro 2, Pages 2003-2015
2025-12-16
Plagiarism Detection Software: Can We Really Trust Them?
Authors : Merazga Batoul . Besbes Fatima Zohra .
Abstract
Plagiarism detection software has become a cornerstone of academic integrity enforcement across the globe. However, behind the sleek interfaces and statistical reports lies a more complex reality: one that raises profound philosophical, linguistic, and ethical questions. This article critically examines the mechanisms and logic of popular tools such as Turnitin, iThenticate, and others, questioning the assumption that textual similarity necessarily implies intellectual theft. Are ideas truly ownable? Can an algorithm distinguish between imitation and coincidence, style and structure, knowledge and noise? As institutions increasingly rely on these systems not only for evaluation but also for control, we investigate whether such tools foster integrity—or whether they reinforce a surveillance-based model of academia, shaped by profit motives and algorithmic opacity. Furthermore, we raise concerns about the ownership of the data fed into these tools, and whether researchers’ works are quietly contributing to AI training and commercial exploitation without consent. Rather than rejecting these technologies outright, the article calls for a rethinking of the values and policies behind their use. It argues for more transparent, context-sensitive, and ethically grounded approaches to academic authorship in the digital age.
Keywords
Plagiarism detection software ; Academic authorship ; Academic surveillance ; Data ethics ; Turnitin ; iThenticate
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