PaperToolsPro Upgrade Makes Taking Notes and Avoiding Plagiarism Easy

ePen&Inc. has released PaperToolsPro 1.3, making note taking and avoiding plagiarism easy and efficient for researchers in the fields of publishing, business, and education-from middle school to graduate school. Researchers can now write note cards with citations and bibliography cards on the computer that has access to the Internet to find researched information.

(PRWEB) August 31, 2005 -- ePen&Inc. has released PaperToolsPro 1.3, making note taking and avoiding plagiarism easy and efficient for researchers in the fields of publishing, business, and education-from middle school to graduate school.

PaperToolsPro is designed for professional or student writers to take notes right on their computer as they find information. PaperToolsPro, the leading research management software, helps writers

On their desktops and on laptops in hot spots, students and writers find information on the Internet, and copy/paste it into a folder.

Yet, understanding this material does not actually occur until they read, analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and ultimately take notes in their own words. When this information is meant for publication-a research paper, a business report, a scholarly journal, a website, or a presentation-the writer must also be able to cite the exact source to avoid plagiarism. Writers may carry their well-used laptops in their book bags or brief cases, but they may not carry 3 x 5 note cards for note taking, bibliography entries, and genuine processing the information.

Laurence Tribe, Richard Judd, Stephen E. Ambrose, John L. Casti, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Rev. Edward Mullins, Louis W. Roberts, including Richard Judd-all these prominent historians and writers have crossed the ethical bounds of plagiarism-intentionally or unintentionally-and endured the personal and professional consequences.

The president of Central Connecticut State University, Richard C. Judd, published an article in the Hartford Courant newspaper that was strikingly similar to an editorial in The New York Times and the northern Cyprus government Web site. "I mistakenly assumed notes I had made were my own and I thus incorporated them without attribution....As an author of many texts and articles, I should have done a better job of vetting my text," Judd admitted. PaperToolsPro would have prompted Judd to cite a source with every note he took.

Unlike Internet detection services like Turnitin.com that attempt to catch writers plagiarizing without distinguishing intentional cheating from simple documentation errors, PaperToolsPro is an educational tool to help writers learn good researching skills and ethics.

The Academic Version of PaperToolsPro provides reminders for avoiding plagiarism on the note card screen. The Standard Version of PaperToolsPro additionally enables the user to import bibliography and citation information from citation management programs like EndNote and then to write notes to those sources in PaperToolsPro.

Available in Mac or PC, a fully functional free downloadable demo can be obtained from www.PaperToolsPro.com; or from there purchase the software on CD for $40 or at quantity prices, or as a site license.

Students in high school, college, and graduate school have successfully used PaperToolsPro. The May issue of eSchoolNews, the April issue of Learning & Leading with Technology published by ISTE, and the April issue of Library Media Connection spotlighted its significance as a research tool. A recent review of PaperToolsPro by macCompanion gave it a five-star rating (www.maccompanion.com/archives/may2005/Software/PaperToolsPro.htm). Robert Pritchett, editor of macCompanion wrote, "I wished I had PaperToolsPro when I was working on my Masters." Recommended by ESPG (Educational Software Preview Guide at www-ed.fnal.gov/espg), the program is the result of 36 years of teaching English and 27 years of software development for a university medical school.

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