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| Over 9，000 college application documents plagiarized: lawmaker [2014/11/07 09:12] |
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More than 9，000 students` cover letters and recommendation letters submitted for college applications last year are suspected to have been plagiarized， a lawmaker said Monday.
Citing data from the Korea Council for University Education， Rep. Kim Hoe-seon of the ruling Saenuri Party said that of the 324，060 students who applied for 110 universities last year， the cover letters attached to 1，209 applications fell under ‘suspicion of plagiarism，` while 66 were ‘almost plagiarized.`
Recommendation letters by teachers were also linked to plagiarism. Among 180，349 applicants for 54 universities last year， 6，442 of their recommendation letters generated suspicion of plagiarism and 1，599 were de facto plagiarized， adding up to more than 8，000 copied recommendation letters written by teachers.
Under the KCUE guidelines to prevent plagiarism， a cover letter with 30 percent or less similarity to those of others falls under ‘suspicion of plagiarism，` while more than 30 percent of similar content is deemed ‘almost plagiarized.` A recommendation letter is suspected to have been plagiarized when it contains 20 to 50 percent similarity to those of others. More than 50 percent of such letters were deemed ‘almost plagiarized.
The KCUE said it has lowered the standard for plagiarism on recommendation letters since they are used as a secondary reference material. Rep. Kim said since these documents can play a role in determining applicants` college entrance， anti-plagiarism rules should be strictly enforced.
In Korea， between 25 to 70 percent of a total admission quota is selected through early admission programs， in which the applicants are judged on their grade， extracurricular activities， cover letters and recommendation letters. |
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