guilt.

Applying to College
1

<p>so. im a good student. always have been. always.
but
in my newspaper article i sort of used ideas similar to an article written by a man in a foreign country who published in a newspaper...this paper is pretty much unheard of in my opinion.</p>

<p>i feel bad. i feel guilty. although i think and hope know one will discover it simply because its from a foreign country (though a branch exists here too...but its very small) on a distinct topic, i still have that fear in the back of my mind. the problem is now my entry is submitted to a contest for newspapers...which makes me feel even more worse. ive won contests before on my own writing...not that im saying htis is written totally like the man's article....but its sort of similar. im just worried. </p>

<p>i swear to myself and to god that this will never happen again. </p>

<p>i just hope because the fact that it was written in a different country's website no one will discover it. </p>

<p>i cant believe this...i shouldnt be in this position. i regret this more than anything. idk what to do.</p>

2

<p>Worse that can happen is they find out, you get kicked out of the contest, and possibly suspended from school depending on your school's rules. Oh, you could also be sued for copyright infringement or whatever, but that rarely happens.</p>

3

<p>Just give the guy credit for his ideas and you should be fine- if you can't edit your article then I guess have it removed if it's bothering you so much. But when you say "similar" as in word for word- then it goes without saying that you've just potentially screwed yourself over.</p>

4

<p>its not word for word. and it definitely is my type of writing but ideas are similar. what type of criteria determines plagarism? like how can they check if it is true? i mean the other guy's article was very difficult to find and hes from a different country so like idk how they could randomly come up with the fact that i did that without specifically typing something in search engine and btw the article was written in 1980s so its old too. </p>

<p>i guess im sort of lucky those factors come into play in my case...but if i learned anything from this is that this will NEVER EVER NEVER EVER happen again. lol. im glad i learned this lesson now in a situation where im still young and hopefully chances of me getting in trouble are minimal thanks to the article's author, organization, and location of the paper. </p>

<p>btw i cant edit it anymore...i wish i could....u have no idea how much i wish.</p>

5

<p>Don't worry too much about it. It's nice to know you have a conscience and now you know you'll never do anything like this again. I doubt they'd find out... a foreign news article from the 1980's? Also, I think you might to worrying too much. Unless you incorporated absolutely NO new ideas and personal inputs, its hard to say you are plagiarizing. </p>

<p>Everything: philosophy, ideologies, science, and opinions are built on top of each other over the long span of history. Rarely does anyone present an idea so radical that it changes the entire way of how things are viewed. As long as you gave something unique, I think you're fine. </p>

<p>Or... if its really bugging you, call, tell the truth, and drop out of the competition.</p>

6

<p>gryffon ur post really made my day. thanks. i felt i jsut needed someone to tell me not to worry.. i feel much better now.</p>

<p>and no. the ideas were definitely mixed with my own and related to the school as well. but some things were similar. i considered telling the truth but i really think the odds of it being discovered are slim too and i have a great reputation at school...one that i feel i deserve because i really do work hard...i just dont know what i was thinking when i did this and boy will i never ever do this again!. its just ive been feeling overly guilty. </p>

<p>but at the same time lol... we're in high school and i have no doubt that ppl have done much worse than i have. not that that's a reason to defend what i did...but im just saying it to make myself feel better. </p>

<p>and yes i have a conscience and just because of what i went through last night and today, i KNOW i will never do this again. ever. lol.</p>

<p>thanks guys. CC is really great. u guys have been there for me through everything major mental breakdowns, joys, and even guilt... i cant thank you all enough. this is a new account i openedd fyi to protect my privacy.</p>

7

<p>You feel guilty because you know that you did the wrong thing. You may not have plagiarized, just neglected to properly reference your sources. These are closely related, but distinct errors.</p>

<p>Now it's time to stop worrying about protecting your "great reputation" and step up to the plate. Re-write the material using proper citations. Send the new article in as "corrected version", or "revised" version.</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>

8

<p>You feel guilty because you know you did wrong. What you can do to right your error is to put a correction in your school newspaper -- a correction that cites the article that you stole ideas from. You also need to withdraw your article from consideration for the contest. </p>

<p>If you don't do these things, you risk either getting found out or getting an award and attention that you know that you don't deserve.</p>

<p>My perspective is that of a journalist and former college newspaper advisor.</p>

9

<p>what does this have to do with college admissions?</p>

10

<p>Were you aware of the other article before you wrote yours and then liked the ideas so used them? Or did you come up with ideas and then later find they are very similar to those written in a prior article? I don't think it's plagiarism exactly if the ideas aren't that unique, but if they are it could be easy to find the other article. You should revise it if you could.</p>

11

<p>That is called doing research. It isn't bad.</p>

12

<p>I can no longer revise it. This was an issue from last year. we submitted it to a contest recently.</p>

13

<p>Taking specific ideas or opinions or copying, in whole or part, verbatim from his articles WITHOUT giving him credit, or writing on the same topic he writes on every week because you're not creative enough to think of your own? That's plagiarism, and it's frowned upon in colleges.</p>

<p>What matter is not how big or small this writer is, or where you got his ideas from, or the fact that no one else 'could' find it. You'd be surprised who can recognize what, but the point that really matters is that these ideas are not your own and you need to give the person who came up with them credit for coming up with them.</p>

<p>But, LookingGood, at this point there is really nothing you can do besides withdraw your submission to the contest. You don't have to give a reason, you can just withdraw it. You can also print an addendum to a recent issue of your school newspaper giving credit to the man who came up with the ideas giving the same protestations you're giving now -- you did not steal his work, you just used his ideas as a springboard for your own, and you feel that it is proper to give him credit for that.</p>

<hr>

<p>In response to other posters:</p>

<p>Contrary to what Gryffon said, however, it is not "hard to say you are plagiarizing...unless you incorporated absolutely NO new ideas and personal inputs." Yes, ideas are built on top of one another over time, but you STILL NEED to give the people credit who came up with the original ideas! Taking someone else's idea and adding something original to it does not make it your own or make it okay not to give them credit.</p>

<p>In my field, you can't write a scientific article without contributing anything new. It won't get published. But in virtually every case your ideas are built upon other people's research findings and theories from the past and you still need to cite them, EVEN IF you are coming up with something original.</p>

<p>happymomof1 -- neglecting to reference your sources IS a form of plagiarism. They're not distinct; they are the same thing. I read a story about a student who wrote a paper and completely forgot to enter all of his citations, even though it was rather obvious that he meant to enter them at a later time. He got an F on the paper and got put on suspension from his school.</p>

<p>Fromthesouth, it's not the same thing as doing research. Doing research is when you properly attribute ideas to the person who came up with them.</p>

14

<p>I know..but I cannot simply withdraw my article...if I could I definitely would do so...because it was submitted with a group of other articles and papers.</p>

<p>and julliet, I completely agree with you. I've learned my lesson. I just feel bad now...and I should. I deserve having this feeling.</p>

15

<p>okay well ive come to the conclusion taht what i did was wrong...but not necssarily totally plagarize in my case.</p>

<p>I directly related my article to the school and I found that similar stories with the same ideas I have used are actually very common. the concept is similar but its related to my school and has been widely noted in many, many, news articles. </p>

<p>im pretty sure im okay this time. but u guys have helped me better understand that this is wrong and i will never do this again.</p>

<p>thanks guys =)</p>

16

<p>On the topic of citation, it is said (or, I was taught) that if you can find the ideas in 5 other sources, it does not need to be cited (do you really have to say Newton discovered gravity when using the word in an article about space?)</p>