Failed a huge psychology project and now have a meeting with the dean of students

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TechnoKid

Diamond Member
Feb 12, 2001
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you used a colon, so to me, that is clearly showing that the following after teh colon would be related to the citatation, would it not?
 

SagaLore

Elite Member
Dec 18, 2001
24,036
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Originally posted by: nick1985
now the best i can do in the class is a C-(assuming i get every point available from here on out), i will be lucky to pass. ive never had a class below a B-, my GPA will go in the gutter

How will 1 low grade affect your entire gpa so poorly? I think you're overreacting. If you really did "plagairize", I'd be more worried about being kicked out of the school permanently.
 

aidanjm

Lifer
Aug 9, 2004
12,411
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Originally posted by: nick1985
The area of my paper where i got ass rammed:


Russell & Keel (2002, as cited in Ray 2004) present the following list of ?six red flags? as guidelines for detecting eating disorders among males:

·Age 14 to 18 years
·Athletes in sports that focus on body image and weight classifications
·Homosexuality of confusion related to sexual identification
·Any occurrence of the previously enumerated mental disorders that appear co-morbid with eating disorders
·Recent turmoil in the home environment that could trigger the onset of an eating disorder such as death of a loved one, divorce, moving, and financial difficulties
·Presence of family members suffering from an eating disorder as well as a family environment that stresses physical appearance and body image




now although i cited the material, the teacher claimed since i forgot to use quotes for the bulleted info, that i plagarised. now the best i can do in the class is a C-(assuming i get every point available from here on out), i will be lucky to pass. ive never had a class below a B-, my GPA will go in the gutter and hopefully i dont get kicked out of school. all of this for a simple honest mistake on a technicality.

i need 1 of 2 things right now:
:beer:
: Pvssy;

both will work i guess....this day sucks

:(
Did you reword the list of points from Russel & Keel, or use their exact words? If you used their exact words, then I guess you really should have indicated that you are quoting.

FWIW I think the teacher is being very sh1tty over this. There's a difference between deliberate plagiarism and this kind of mistake.

If you ever need a psychology essay or lab report proof read, PM me. I did a science degree majoring in psychology, plus an honours year in psych, and I've done some research assistant work for various profs. in the psych. faculty.
 

aidanjm

Lifer
Aug 9, 2004
12,411
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Originally posted by: SludgeFactory
It looks like the APA wants you to indent long quotes and set them off from the body of the text, like I remember from other guides, *no quotation marks*. For a conventional 40+ word block quote, look under Long Quotations.

I think if you had indented it (did you?) and given the page number (pp) at the end in addition to your lead-in sentence, you would be technically OK, at least more correct than her quotation marks. Go find a copy of the APA guide. But even then, bulleted lists are frowned upon in formal writing and from what I can tell the APA discourages them, so it may be difficult to find examples of how you're supposed to quote poor style like that. I wonder if the original authors formatted it like that, sometimes it pays to dig up the source rather than get it secondhand from a 3 page survey article in a school counseling journal.

The main thing is to establish that there is some confusion in this case about how to correctly cite this (use a little tact if the teacher is present at the meeting) by pointing to the style guide if necessary, then concede that *you* made a stylistic mistake and fully accept whatever points are deducted for such mistakes, but that plagarism was clearly not your intent.

Originally posted by: nick1985
im deffinately considering my "options"...:eek:
like what, egging all the cars in the psych faculty parking lot? :p

This seems like the most reasonable approach to me. They would probably have a copy of the APA handbook in the bookshop, definitely there would be copies in the various libraries at your Uni.
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
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Take all the info given here, and flood the dean with it. It seems like some people have come up with good examples of other, bigger sources, making this mistake. Show up at his door with a nice booklet of examples. Make this a huge stinky bastard of a problem that he just wants to go away. Be polite, but persistant and annoying.

After that, slash your professors tires.
 
Aug 26, 2004
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Originally posted by: AcidicFury
Just try to build up your case with the dean of students. This really doesn't seem like plagarism of the intentional kind, rather, an incorrect citation. You should be able to get off. This professor is just trying to be an ass.

 

KoolAidKid

Golden Member
Apr 29, 2002
1,932
0
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Originally posted by: nick1985
The area of my paper where i got ass rammed:


Russell & Keel (2002, as cited in Ray 2004) present the following list of ?six red flags? as guidelines for detecting eating disorders among males:

·Age 14 to 18 years
·Athletes in sports that focus on body image and weight classifications
·Homosexuality of confusion related to sexual identification
·Any occurrence of the previously enumerated mental disorders that appear co-morbid with eating disorders
·Recent turmoil in the home environment that could trigger the onset of an eating disorder such as death of a loved one, divorce, moving, and financial difficulties
·Presence of family members suffering from an eating disorder as well as a family environment that stresses physical appearance and body image

This is BS. I graded many papers during my time as a psych grad student and I would have never tried to pull this on you. I think that you actually cited the correct way. Here is a direct quotation from the APA Publication manual (4th edition, page 95) that discusses how you should cite direct quotes:

Display the quotation of 40 or more words in a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and omit the quotation marks. ... When quoting, always provide the author, year, and specific page citation in the text, and include a complete reference in the reference list.

My advice to you would be to get your hands on the latest (5th) edition of the APA manual to support your case. Even if you forgot to cite the page number this is a very minor mistake and IMO you do not deserve such drastic consequences.
 

flamingelephant

Golden Member
Jun 22, 2001
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Although information was not in quotation marks, the header for the section that listed the points clearly states that the information came from a different source and is cited. This does not seem like plagiarism to me. Schools should be trying to bust people who copy and paste papers off the internet, or who buy them from online services or who cut and paste entire textbooks, not busting a students @ss over where to use quotation marks when the text clearly states that the information is from an external source. Dock points for improper citing, but that?s not plaragism!
 

feralkid

Lifer
Jan 28, 2002
16,606
4,699
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Originally posted by: nick1985
in my meeting with her, she asked if i was upset with her.

probably not the best response but i said, "should i not be?"


meh...i made an honest mistake and now i run the risk of getting kicked out of school. no, im not upset with you...:roll:




They threatened to kick you out of school for this?
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
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Originally posted by: SagaLore
How will 1 low grade affect your entire gpa so poorly? I think you're overreacting. If you really did "plagairize", I'd be more worried about being kicked out of the school permanently.

Well, if he got a 0 on a paper that was worth, say, 25% of his grade, it's very possible.
 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
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Originally posted by: Jassi
Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Originally posted by: Mo0o
We definitely want updates after you sort this out

Word. You Syringer us on this, and so help me you will die.

- M4H


If he does, we should just post

" "

in every one of his threads <evil laugh> .......... </evil laugh>
That would be more content than 99% of his posts in P%N! :laugh:



Seriously, that sucks, nick. You shouldn't be raked across the coals like this.
 

mchammer187

Diamond Member
Nov 26, 2000
9,114
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http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=plagiarize

pla·gia·rize Audio pronunciation of "plagiarize" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (plj-rz)
v. pla·gia·rized, pla·gia·riz·ing, pla·gia·riz·es
v. tr.

1. To use and pass off (the ideas or writings of another) as one's own.
2. To appropriate for use as one's own passages or ideas from (another).

regardless of what anyone says improper citation is NOT plagiarism

1. you did not omit a citation (this is not an improper citation this is plagiarism)
2. you did not pass of another's ideas as your own
3. you did not modify someones information to make it fit your paper (per the second definition)
4. i'm not even sure there is an improper citiation here because it is a list which generally you don't quote
 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,422
14,333
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Your teacher is so much in the wrong here it's not even funny. If the meeting with the Dean does not go properly, I seriously suggest acquiring legal counsel. Do not lay down on this. Your teacher obviously hates you, that's why she asked you if you were upset with her.
 

aidanjm

Lifer
Aug 9, 2004
12,411
2
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Originally posted by: mchammer187
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=plagiarize

pla·gia·rize Audio pronunciation of "plagiarize" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (plj-rz)
v. pla·gia·rized, pla·gia·riz·ing, pla·gia·riz·es
v. tr.

1. To use and pass off (the ideas or writings of another) as one's own.
2. To appropriate for use as one's own passages or ideas from (another).

regardless of what anyone says improper citation is NOT plagiarism

1. you did not omit a citation (this is not an improper citation this is plagiarism)
2. you did not pass of another's ideas as your own
3. you did not modify someones information to make it fit your paper (per the second definition)
4. i'm not even sure there is an improper citiation here because it is a list which generally you don't quote

This is the crux of the issue -- is this plagiarism, or is it an improper citation? Improper citation loses you a few marks/ points, but it doesn't get you a failing grade and a chat with the dean. The lecturer is being an a$$ over this. It's not good enough just not being kicked out, you really need to get your paper re-marked and get the marks you are entitled to. I say request a remarking of the paper. This is a serious situation, after all, if it's going to stuff up your grade point average.
 

rahvin

Elite Member
Oct 10, 1999
8,475
1
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Originally posted by: Vic
Your teacher is so much in the wrong here it's not even funny. If the meeting with the Dean does not go properly, I seriously suggest acquiring legal counsel. Do not lay down on this. Your teacher obviously hates you, that's why she asked you if you were upset with her.

 

Czar

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
28,510
0
0
the teacher is so wrong on this

keep us updated, if the collectivenes of this forum can help then it definetly will, good luck
 

Jzero

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
18,834
1
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When professors wrongfully accused me of plagiarism on rare occasions, I would remind them that this is a serious accusation and the burden of proof is on them. Are you sure you can prove out this allegation? Because if you cannot do so, I will make sure you are held accountable for your actions as much as you want to hold me accountable for mine.

In every case they backed down. For what it's worth, I never did actually plagiarize anything, but because of my lax attitude towards common and boring projects, when a professor finally shat out a reasonably compelling project that brought me back to life, they would be surprised by glittering result and assume that I could not possibly have come up with it myself.
Suckers.

 

Amdiggidy

Senior member
Jan 26, 2005
911
0
76
This is an instance of incorrect punctuation/ citation more than it is plagiarism..I wouldn't worry. I would HOPE that the dean is a more understanding and intelligent individual than the prof....:confused:
 

NakaNaka

Diamond Member
Aug 29, 2000
6,304
1
0
Originally posted by: Czar
the teacher is so wrong on this

keep us updated, if the collectivenes of this forum can help then it definetly will, good luck

Agreed. Your best bet is to prove to the Dean that it wasn't intentional, since you cited it, then ask to be dropped from the class, since the teacher has put you in an unfair hole on a technicality.
 

nick1985

Lifer
Dec 29, 2002
27,153
6
81
i emailed the chair of the psych department to have a discussion with them about my paper and what they think should be done. this way i will get an unbiased opinion with the paper before my meeting with the dean on thursday