The flip side, however, of this trend is that a high demand for term papers on such topics is generated partly because scholars have failed to produce sufficient levels of critical scholarship. That means students are getting assignments to read Black authors, but they are having trouble finding commentary on the assignments. In writing papers, commentary is useful because it allows students to compare and contrast their own ideas about an author's work with those of prominent scholars. Students are also allowed to cite the ideas of scholars to construct arguments in their term papers.
"There's a gap between the teaching of certain topics and the critical material that should accompany it," Mullen says.
As a scholar who teaches African American literature, Mullen believes she has to be "vigilant" in reviewing her students' work. But she adds that all faculty, regardless of their discipline, have to work harder to guide students away from resorting to using term paper mills. She agrees with McHenry in that many students are not fully aware of what constitutes plagiarism and why it matters.
"Some students don't know the difference between citing a source and plagiarizing one," Mullen says, emphasizing that faculty have a responsibility to inform students on the definition of plagiarism. "I think it's a good idea to pass it out in writing."
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