<p>My son was accused of plagiarism which he completely denies and does not
understand the charge. He was placed on a semester suspension. He is in
the middle of the appeal process. If it was unintentional, what is the best defense to reduce the harsh penalty charge?</p>
<p>The charge of plagiarism means that he is being accused of representing the work product of another as his own. This could mean that a student copies a published author’s work, copies from another student, or any other source. Under most codes of conduct, plagiarism need not be a verbatim recitation of the original work, but could mean that substantial phrases, ideas, etc. were copied. Your son can probably find a definition of his school’s policy in the student handbook. </p>
<p>Has he already been suspended? Or is suspension a possibility if he is found guilty of the charge? If he has already been suspended then it is most likely that there has already been a disciplinary hearing and he came out on the loosing end. If that is the case, he probably just has to accept the punishment, unless there is an appeals process. If suspension is just an option, he should learn about the disciplinary hearing process and prepare to deny the charges and show evidence that the work turned in was his own. </p>
<p>I’m not sure how someone “accidentally” or “unintentionally” plagiarizes. Are you saying that he wasn’t aware of the definition, and so didn’t realize he was doing anything wrong? That’s probably not a viable defense, since it’s likely in the student conduct code. Please explain further. Honesty is probably his best defense. Admit and own his mistake and explain what he has learned from the experience. If this is his first violation, that might have some sway. </p>
<p>I’m sorry he and you are in this spot. Good luck.</p>
<p>Students who pass any kind of college composition 101 course are assumed to understand what plagiarism is, and they are held responsible for not committing it. For a student to be suspended, it had to be a pretty egregious case (i.e. paper mill, extensive internet cutting and pasting, no citations, etc.). I am a professor and I know that if I bring a student up to the judiciary on plagiarism charges, I have to be able to prove it with documentary evidence. Most colleges are the same in this regard. Don’t be in denial about this; it does not help your son.</p>
<p>In any case, the best response on your son’s part is to admit wrongdoing and not make excuses. It will only exacerbate the situation. If he did plagiarize, your son needs to eat this and move on.</p>
<p>I am horribly sorry that you are going through this. The first question is, did he do this inadvertently? Like forget to cite a source? Or is it a case of mistaken plagiarism, that is similar writing to something else? Was it scientific or creative writing?</p>
<p>If it has already gone through a judicial hearing, I am assuming that the professor was able to produce solid “evidence” of it. </p>
<p>He needs to put together his appeal very very carefully, because for sure his accuser is his professor!!! Does he have an adviser for the writing of his appeal? </p>
<p>The problem with a suspension for academic dishonesty is that it may never go away from the transcript.</p>
<p>Tell him that you can help him far better if he completely levels with you.</p>
<p>It would have been easier to address this when the young man was notified about the possible plagiarism. A lot happens between “There may be a problem here” and “You’re suspended.” I agree with prior posters that helping your S will be awkward … starting with his full explanation of the charge, and all subsequent communications with the college’s staff.</p>
<p>Sorry you have to go through this. My best wishes for a happy resolution.</p>
<p>My son is facing disciplinary action for something different (not plagiarism). One of the best things I did was to read the Student Handbook, which contains his school’s Code of Conduct. It spells out the process, various options for resolution, sanctions, and the appeal process. It was enlightening reading. </p>
<p>You will not be allowed to intervene in the process because your son is legally an adult. However, you can help & advise him with an appeal by becoming acquainted with the college’s Code of Conduct (or whatever they call it at his school). Have him draft a detailed written statement of facts so that he is very clear about his side of the story. Review that statement with him & look for any holes or problems with his narrative.</p>
<p>Each college has a different process so it is important to be familiar with that of your son’s college. And be aware that colleges are their own legal jurisdiction - they do not necessarily follow the same rules as a court of law. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Another professor here. To answer your question, I doubt it will make any difference whether the plagiarism was intentional or not. This is one thing that students don’t really understand–that if you represent someone else’s work as your own, you have plagiarized, whether you meant to or not.</p>
<p>Now, the extent of the plagiarism could make a difference–was it a few sentences he copied from Wikipedia or an entire paper that someone else wrote?</p>
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Why is that? I know I learned it in HS.</p>
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<p>Mostly, when I have had students plagiarize, it is from Wikipedia or some similar internet source. It is just so easy to copy and paste, and then forget to attribute those words. They don’t set out with the intent to plagiarize; it happens because they are not paying careful attention to their papers. They don’t see this inadvertent copying as “plagiarism”–somehow in their minds plagiarism means intentional misrepresentation. I really do believe in most cases I have seen, they do not realize they have plagiarized until they are called on it.</p>
<p>I’ve read about a student from Dartmouth who was suspended for a year because of an accidental plagiarism - he neglected to integrate the word document for the reference list with the main document because he had been up all night and just forgot, but he had clearly compiled it and intended to include it. They believed him, but they still suspended him for a year regardless. A YEAR. I was dumbfounded. </p>
<p>I believe that for a penalty that severe, there must be an integrity violation and not just negligence. </p>
<p>What do you think Amesie?</p>
<p>Not surprised about Dartmouth. </p>
<p>We’ve had conversations with both our kids about exactly what constitutes plagerism because mistakes happen. There was a big uproar on CC re a kid who was found guilty of having plagerized his own work - he used part of something that was written for another class and didn’t realize this was considered plagerizing, per the school’s rules.</p>
<p>While most students know that direct quotes have to be in quote marks and footnoted, and most know that paraphrased material needs to be footnoted, and most know that the source of facts needs to be footnoted, many students do not realize that any ideas or opinions not originally their own also need to be sourced. This is especially problematic when one develops their position on a topic after reading many sources on an issue and then incorporating some or more as their own ideas - if the professor recognizes the gist of an argument as coming from the original source, even if the student did not realize it, it is still plagiarism. Those plagiarized ideas could come not only from the written word, but also from other media outlets. </p>
<p>Another caveat: I was surprised when reading a new book last week to come across an argument I know was my own and have been using in teaching for years. A synopsis of the identical idea followed the statement, “Many scientists have come to the explanation on their own that…” I did do it on my own! But if I wrote it in a paper without citation, any professor who had read the same best seller I had just read would call it plagiarism.</p>
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<p>This is a really, really hard question. For many (most?) colleges, honor codes are sacrosanct. And academic honesty is at the heart of an honor code. I am sympathetic to a student’s claim that she meant to put quotes around that paragraph that she cut and pasted from the internet, but she just forgot. On the other hand, I am not sure I would support changing the rules so that suspension requires intentional rather than merely negligent plagiarism. Negligent plagiarism is pretty bad. And if I remember correctly about the Dartmouth case, the student sounded pretty unrepentant. (“I finished my paper at the last minute; I was careless; It’s not my fault.”) Violating the honor code and then disputing the seriousness of that violation usually leads to bad results, in my experience.</p>
<p>“I believe that for a penalty that severe, there must be an integrity violation and not just negligence.”</p>
<p>I’d support this kind of rule. There’s a duty of care, of course, but when it comes to an inadvertent first offense by a college student, I think severe penalties are misguided. In my view, failing the paper is a pretty tough sanction and more than strong enough.</p>
<p>^ Yes, especially when far more experienced people who should know far better get off with far less.</p>
<p>[Historians</a> rewrite history. - Slate Magazine](<a href=“http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/chatterbox/2003/11/historians_rewrite_history.single.html]Historians”>Historians rewrite history.)</p>
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Just to be devil’s advocate here, why, exactly is it bad? It’s certainly not morally the same as deliberate plagiarism. Why is it worse than, say, really bad writing, or stapling the pages of the paper out of order, or turning the paper in a day late, etc.?</p>
<p>Because scholastic integrity is critical to the concept of intellectual property. Societies that don’t protect it, find it harder to get people to devote their time and energy to producing new ideas (as opposed to simply plagerizing what is already out there.) Why bother to come up with original ideas when anyone can claim that your work is actually theirs?</p>
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I get that, but we’re not talking about a scholarly publication or a book–we’re talking about a student’s paper, which will disappear into a black hole forever after it’s graded. I agree that the student has to be taught not to do this, and should be penalized, but the consequences for anybody else are minimal.</p>
<p>When I catch plagiarism (Google helps these days), I sometimes call the student in and ask, “Tell me how you wrote this paper.” I do distinguish negligent and deliberate plagiarism, when I can, but it isn’t always that clear cut. We require students to complete “You note it, you quote it” (online instruction on plagiarism).</p>
<p>My worst case of plagiarism ever: I was reading a paper and had a series of thoughts something like this: “I agree.” “This is pretty good.” “I have argued the same point.” “In fact, this sounds a lot like what I would say on this topic …” “What do you know, this IS what I said on this topic!” The student had copied an encylopedia entry I had written on the assigned topic (names are often not given, or given at the end of an entry, or initials only, in certains kinds of encylopedias and dictionaries). Took me a long time to figure out what to say that wasn’t too mean …</p>
<p>Like Hunt, I agree that students should be taught not to do this and should be penalized if they are. But how about if the teachers do this?</p>
<p>I just looked at a Teacher’s website that has word documents of how to write different analysis. I decided to google from one of the documents and found the entire article was lifted from a University website with no citation? This teacher preaches to her students about plagiarism. The irony…</p>