It’s 11 p.m and you have a paper due the next day. Professors suggest thinking twice before purchasing a paper from the Internet.

Some students are already aware of the various Web sites where college students can purchase term papers. Web sites like termpaperrelief.com, superiorpaper.com and edupapers.net all charge students for original papers for prices ranging from $10-20.

Some Web sites offer pre-written papers based on typically assigned topics such as edupapers.com.

Others, like termpaperrelief.com create original papers based on what the student sends to them.

Although the latter may seem like a loophole in the school’s plagiarism rule, professors say they treat individuals caught using these Web sites the same as plagiarism.

“It’s 21st-century cheating,” said English instructor Jack Haines.

Although purchasing an original paper may not technically be cheating because students are not copying previously published work, professors and students alike find the act unethical.

“It’s dishonest and defeats the purpose,” said associate English professor Larry Johannessen. .

English professors are not the only ones appalled by pre-written papers.

Some students also view the papers as dishonest.

“It’s something I wouldn’t do,” said freshmen biology major Shane Theado .

“It’s using someone else’s work and not your own.”

Haines said professors use a variety of different methods to help detect purchased papers.

“It’s so easy to know [if a paper was purchased],” Haines said. “We know how our students write, so if they turn in some masterpiece it tips us off.”

Furthermore, Haines also said professors use Web sites like turnitin.com and google.com to ensure students are writing their own term papers.

“Students tend to think that professors aren’t very smart,” Johannessen said.

Students caught using a purchased paper face consequences ranging from getting a failing grade on the assignment, failing the class, or being expelled for the university.

“It depends on how many times the student does it how they did it,” Johannessen said.

The punishment varies from how much the student plagiarized.

For example, a student caught with a paper with patchwork plagiarism will receive a lesser punishment then a student caught with a completely purchased and/or plagiarized paper.

Typically, the first time a student is caught he or she will either get a failing grade on the assignment or receive the chance to rewrite the paper, depending on the professor’s decision.

A student caught turning in a purchased paper more than once will face a more severe punishment.

“If we catch them twice, they will probably be expelled,” Johannessen said. “That goes on their permanent record.”

Some students may not know professors are well aware of these Web sites and they advise students not to use them because the punishment can be severe.

“It’s like committing a crime,” Johannessen said.