Help please - Plagiarism

[DizzIzz]

Hi, please can I ask for advice especially from any uni tutors etc....
DD has today received an email from uni asking her to attend a meeting in 3 weeks time about 2 pieces of her work, where she will have to confirm if she has or has not attempted to plagiarise.

She is in her first year and is absolutely distraught. She has read the guidelines and the module in question is not her main subject. She has referenced the percentage of work required but had not included quotation marks, as in her main subject she does not include quotation marks, just reference and footnotes. Surely they will be able to see that the fact she has all of the referencing, she is hardly trying to pass it as her own?

Any idea what the outcome is likely to be? Thanks.

It was a striking image. And I shouldn't be here. Marking .....

Besides, I can't find the footnote function for this message board. tut.

You're dead right - we should boycott this place until they make it compatible with Endnote.

Also we should mark...

(Dizz that is the other reason this thread got technical - we should all be marking and we don't want to be.)

I haven't read the rest of the thread, but this is my take on it, having sat in many a plagiarism hearing:

If it's her first "offence", in her first year, it is unlikely that she will receive anything too harsh, by way of punishment. We will go through the turnitin report, in front of the student and point out sources of plagiarism and give the student an opportunity to explain what they've done (typically this is just a misunderstanding on their part). Typically, for a first offence, the student will be asked to resubmit and the subsequent mark would be capped at whatever the pass mark is. The student will then receive a written warning and the offence will go down on record and any future offences will be dealt with more harshly.

The main aim is to ensure that the student understands where he/she went wrong and get some support (typically from a personal tutor) to ensure that it doesn't happen again

Academic writing is a skill and not everybody gets it right first time. Our plagiarism tutor spends many hours in plagiarism meetings, so your daughter is definitely not alone.

So while it's impossible to generalise, I really wouldn't be too concerned, what matters is that she learns from this and doesn't make the same mistakes in the future

Thanks Millie.

DD has a mtg with the SU tomorrow so that's a start.

DD has had mtg with students union which went ok. She has been advised to prepare a statement and forward it to the "panel" if you like before the meeting.

Is this the done thing please, I know if probably can't hurt but just wanted some thoughts. Thanks.

I am sure the SU know better than most people on this thread what is "normal" for that institution. Whilst most universities will have relatively standard procedures for plagiarism, things will vary from university to university a bit. If she was given three weeks before the meeting, it does sound like she has been given time to prepare for the meeting.

Did the SU advise as to the sort of thing that should be in the statement?

If not, perhaps your DD should try and read a book like "cite them right" (which is usually available in the library or can be bought cheaply second hand online) and try and work out what mistakes she has made, in advance.

It might help if you told us what her subject is, and what module the subject she is taking is- then some people might be able to shed more light on her confusion?

Thanks Incognito, I am sure you are right that the SU knows what's best for their uni.

Basically she is to state her perception of plagiarism, where she thinks she's gone wrong and an apology.

SU are prepared to speak for her as they believe the error to be genuine, having looked at her work.

Don't really want to give too much away on here for obvious reasons. Thanks again.

Basically she is to state her perception of plagiarism, where she thinks she's gone wrong and an apology

Absolutely standard. When I've convened or sat in on plagiarism/academic misconduct meetings this is exactly what we require. The best advice you can give your daughter is to be completely straightforward & honest, and not to make excuses.

We want it to be a learning experience, so she needs to be open to that. With the right attitude she'll be absolutely fine, and she can use the meeting with her academic tutors to seek advice.

Thanks Upthechimney