While the research
paper may prove a more useful genre in many undergraduate classes,
it is a genre assigned almost exclusively for students to display
reading, library research, and documentation skills. Though many college
professors inveigh against plagiarism, the reality is that the research paper
frequently degenerates into a cut-and-paste demonstration that the student has
followed certain paths through the club of authorized writers. Cries of
"Plagiarism!" arise more frequently today, however, because students
are far more likely to use electronic texts than print sources for their
research, making the cut-and-paste exercise obvious for what it is.