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Plagiarism :mad:

Can't offer any advice but just wanted to say hope it gets sorted out okay. Poor Dill :( .Try not to worry too much about it - you know it isn't true, just try to get together all the evidence you can to prove this. Good luck x
 
Maybe it will make more sense once you've heard why they are suspicious, it could be a simple co-incidence that someone has written a similar essay. It must be stressful though not knowing what the problem is :(

ETA also could be worth checking their policy on quotations and referencing before the meeting just to check you did it by the book. Do they have a limit as to the length of quotations? (can't see what the point would be if you have referenced it correctly but even still). It looks good if you know the policy.
 
Sorry if this has been covered (I couldn't see it) but when are they going to tell you/show you what they think you have plagiarised? Until then surely you can't prepare a statement in your defense.
 
sparklefish said:
Sorry if this has been covered (I couldn't see it) but when are they going to tell you/show you what they think you have plagiarised? Until then surely you can't prepare a statement in your defense.
Click to expand...

I got an email, and am recieving the same letter in the post, with all the evidence attached.
 
Dillinger4 said:
I have just been accused of it

:mad::mad::mad::mad:



:mad:

WTF?
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Surely you can't respond to this unless you know the details of the allegation. Innit's right - you need to read up on policy, and then get them to detail exactly what they think was plagiarised. It all seems rather vague. Like being served with a court summons which says "You've stolen something..." but nothing else. Read up on policy then get some advice.

eta: i see you've just answered this.
 
in the uk* I think there are two types of plagiarism case.. the obvious copying and pasting by stupid students and essays so good that the lecturers can't believe they were written by their students. so i think you should be flattered that they are checking up on your fine work :)



*in the states there is also the problem with commercialized cheating, essays purchased online or written to order.
 
onemonkey said:
in the uk* I think there are two types of plagiarism case.. the obvious copying and pasting by stupid students and essays so good that the lecturers can't believe they were written by their students. so i think you should be flattered that they are checking up on your fine work :)



*in the states there is also the problem with commercialized cheating, essays purchased online or written to order.
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I have to admit, it was not a brilliant essay, really. But I did not copy and paste anything either, and it was all clearly referenced as much as it possibly could be.
 
Appeals can only be made on the following grounds:

(i) any procedural irregularity prior to or in the conduct of the Panel
meeting;

(ii) there is new evidence that can be substantiated, including
extenuating circumstances, which were not known at the time and may have
affected the outcome had it been known to the Panel and that there is a
valid reason for not making it known at the time.
Click to expand...

It is this bit that worries me.

I have no idea of a 'procedual irregularity' I could accuse the panel of, and I cant think of any 'extenuating circumstances' or 'new evidence' to prove my case.

I have no idea what I am supposed to say.

:confused:
 
Don't worry about that yet - you only need to worry about grounds for an appeal if the panel decides they do think your work was plagiarised. You don't even know what the issue is yet, don't get ahead of yourself :)
 
Dillinger4 said:
It is this bit that worries me.

I have no idea of a 'procedual irregularity' I could accuse the panel of, and I cant think of any 'extenuating circumstances' or 'new evidence' to prove my case.

I have no idea what I am supposed to say.

:confused:
Click to expand...

Yes, but that's if you want to appeal after being found guilty at the hearing. As you haven't copied anything, you should be able to clear everything up at the meeting.

You have to wait and see what they accuse you of in the letter.
 
innit said:
Don't worry about that yet - you only need to worry about grounds for an appeal if the panel decides they do think your work was plagiarised. You don't even know what the issue is yet, don't get ahead of yourself :)
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Well, I am just spending the rest of the day relaxing, as I was going too anyway.

I am pretty confident that I have done nothing wrong.

But, you know, still, I dont need this! I thought I was finished.

:mad: etc!
 
Do you have notes, first drafts that you can show them...? Ie, to show how you formed your ideas, arguments, etc...?
 
Just on a piece of paper I am afraid - if I can even find it. I threw a lot of stuff out after my last exam.

My essay was word processed.
 
Dillinger4 said:
Just on a piece of paper I am afraid - if I can even find it. I threw a lot of stuff out after my last exam.

My essay was word processed.
Click to expand...

If it is written in Word there should be a revision history/changes feature that you could use to show how you wrote it... You could also use "undo" to do the same thing (depends on which version though)
 
was the complaint flagged by an actual reading or by running the piece through anti-plagiarism software?
 
jæd said:
If it is written in Word there should be a revision history/changes feature that you could use to show how you wrote it... You could also use "undo" to do the same thing (depends on which version though)
Click to expand...

Thatll only work if he had 'track changes' on while writing it i think
 
Do try and find out how they decided your work was plagiarised. It seems they've made a mistake, and if you've some idea of how it might have come about you're in a better position to defend yourself.

Thing is, though, that plagiarism can mean anything from an accidentally unsourced point or piece of evidence, to ripping off an entire essay. There are degrees of seriousness, and it may well be that this is nothing much to worry about.

You might, for instance, have a made a point that you think is original but which someone has previously published. As long as you can plausibly say that you were unaware of it, you've done nothing culpable and they shouldn't penalise you for it.

And look on the bright side. A mate of mine who was having a bad time for personal reasons did plagiarise large parts of an essay from the internet. He was caught and hauled up before precisely the sort of disciplinary hearing you're facing. He told them the truth. They made him re-do the essay and capped the mark at 40 (the pass mark), but there was no suggestion he'd be kicked out, or anything of the sort.

Plagiarism's a serious problem these days and universities - rightly - are toughening up on it. Occasionally, that means people end up being accused of plagiarism for small errors or omissions of referencing that a few years ago would have passed without much comment. But the people overseeing plagiarism proceedings aren't out to wreck people's degrees, and unless they're certain you've quite deliberately tried to pass off someone else's work as your own they're very unlikely to impose any penalty on you.
 
Dillinger4 said:
I was blinded by shock and rage.
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Yeh, sorry; not very helpful.

Like others have said, seems a bit fucked that you don't know what they're accusing you of plagiarising. All you can do is take as many notes, refs etc that you've still got & see what they have to say. If you definitely didn't do it, you should be OK. Good luck.
 
Go see someone at the Student's Union. I'm thinking education officer. You said yourself that you don't know what to say in your defense but these people will- it's what they do. they'll also be able to let you know what the meeting's going to be like and stuff like that and help you present a clear case in your defense. I'd recommend preparing a letter and sending it to the panel before you go the meeting so they can review your side of things first. It means that you can say everything you want to say and not forget stuff on the day etc and lets you be better prepared.

these officers in the SU are usually pretty dead on and its good to have the moral support even- i can be pretty daunting sitting in front of a panel of professors etc
 
Got my evidence through the post. I am very much guilty, and it was a shit essay. I am probably guilty of it in my other essay on that module as well.

Been to the independent advice unit - the best I can hope for is a zero for that module. Just got to write a statement and be all apologetic and shit.

*sigh*
 
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