What are Automated Paraphrasing Tools and how do we address them? A review of a growing threat to academic integrity

Abstract

This article reviews the literature surrounding the growing use of Automated Paraphrasing Tools (APTs) as a threat to educational integrity. In academia there is a technological arms-race occurring between the development of tools and techniques which facilitate violations of the principles of educational integrity, including text-based plagiarism, and methods for identifying such behaviors. APTs are part of this race, as they are a rapidly developing technology which can help writers transform words, phrases, and entire sentences and paragraphs at the click of a button. This article seeks to review the literature surrounding the history of APT use and the current understanding of APTs placed in the broader context of the educational integrity-technology arms race.