Possible (accidental) plagiarism in my BA dissertation - what can I expect?
(I am an English Literature BA student, final year).
Hi everyone, I submitted my dissertation a couple of days ago. After submission, I was checking the Turnitin score and noticed there were six words which were flagged as identical to some words found in a book. In this book chapter, the critic was talking about the same text as me, and the same theme as I was, and making a very similar point about it. It appears to be a book you have to pay for, and I don't have it, so I'm at a loss about how it happened. I only managed to see the source text because it shows you a bit of it through Turnitin. It just seems very odd. I reported myself for possible plagiarism (I sent an email) and I'm waiting to see what happens on Monday. As I write this it's Saturday evening.
My question is: What can I expect? Is it time to plan for the worst, or will it likely blow over?
I need to be absolutely clear: I don't know why I'm in this situation. The matching words could be entirely a coincidence, but it mattered to me to flag it out of principle and because it's better I bring this to attention early. I have acted with complete integrity and I will continue to do so.
I get that it's only six words, but it's very concerning to me that it was a very similar point about the same text. I'm not the kind of person to panic, but obviously the dissertation is a very pivotal part of the degree, so the stress level is up a little bit. Most of the advice online is in response to people saying they deliberately stole work and got caught. Well, that isn't me. So, if anyone has advice about what's next, I'd appreciate you dropping me a reply. 😊
Such is life.
Regards,
Jed.
EDIT: Hi everyone, I just wanted to give an update. My Module Coordinator reassured me that in the absence of intentional and obvious plagiarism I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill. I think it was good and proper to check with her, but I am satisfied that it'll come back to me without any problems. I'm leaving this up to benefit anyone who finds themself in a similar situation. Turnitin isn't always easy to comprehend, and coincidences do happen I suppose. Thank you to all respondents, I will not be replying to you individually because I don't know what I'd say, but your responses really helped me to assuage my nervousness during the weekend and I am looking forward to finishing up my degree.
Regards,
Jed.
Hi everyone, I submitted my dissertation a couple of days ago. After submission, I was checking the Turnitin score and noticed there were six words which were flagged as identical to some words found in a book. In this book chapter, the critic was talking about the same text as me, and the same theme as I was, and making a very similar point about it. It appears to be a book you have to pay for, and I don't have it, so I'm at a loss about how it happened. I only managed to see the source text because it shows you a bit of it through Turnitin. It just seems very odd. I reported myself for possible plagiarism (I sent an email) and I'm waiting to see what happens on Monday. As I write this it's Saturday evening.
My question is: What can I expect? Is it time to plan for the worst, or will it likely blow over?
I need to be absolutely clear: I don't know why I'm in this situation. The matching words could be entirely a coincidence, but it mattered to me to flag it out of principle and because it's better I bring this to attention early. I have acted with complete integrity and I will continue to do so.
I get that it's only six words, but it's very concerning to me that it was a very similar point about the same text. I'm not the kind of person to panic, but obviously the dissertation is a very pivotal part of the degree, so the stress level is up a little bit. Most of the advice online is in response to people saying they deliberately stole work and got caught. Well, that isn't me. So, if anyone has advice about what's next, I'd appreciate you dropping me a reply. 😊
Such is life.
Regards,
Jed.
EDIT: Hi everyone, I just wanted to give an update. My Module Coordinator reassured me that in the absence of intentional and obvious plagiarism I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill. I think it was good and proper to check with her, but I am satisfied that it'll come back to me without any problems. I'm leaving this up to benefit anyone who finds themself in a similar situation. Turnitin isn't always easy to comprehend, and coincidences do happen I suppose. Thank you to all respondents, I will not be replying to you individually because I don't know what I'd say, but your responses really helped me to assuage my nervousness during the weekend and I am looking forward to finishing up my degree.
Regards,
Jed.
(edited 3 weeks ago)
Original post by Jed4
(I am an English Literature BA student, final year).
Hi everyone, I submitted my dissertation a couple of days ago. After submission, I was checking the Turnitin score and noticed there were six words which were identical to a book chapter. In this book chapter, the critic was talking about the same text as me, and the same theme as I was, and making a very similar point about it. It appears to be a book you have to pay for, and I don't have it, so I'm at a loss. Nonetheless, it just seems very odd. So I reported myself for possible plagiarism (I sent an email) and I'm waiting to see what happens on Monday. As I write this it's Saturday evening.
My question is: What can I expect? Is it time to plan for the worst, or will it likely blow over?
I need to be absolutely clear: I don't know why I'm in this situation. The matching words could be entirely a coincidence, but it mattered to me to flag it out of principle and because it's better I bring this to attention early. I have acted with complete integrity and I will continue to do so.
I get that it's only six words, but it's very concerning to me that it was a very similar point about the same text. I'm not the kind of person to panic, but obviously the dissertation is a very pivotal part of the degree, so the stress level is up a little bit. Most of the advice online is in response to people saying they deliberately stole work and got caught. Well, that isn't me. So, if anyone has advice about what's next, I'd appreciate you dropping me a reply. 😊
Such is life.
Regards,
Jed.
Hi everyone, I submitted my dissertation a couple of days ago. After submission, I was checking the Turnitin score and noticed there were six words which were identical to a book chapter. In this book chapter, the critic was talking about the same text as me, and the same theme as I was, and making a very similar point about it. It appears to be a book you have to pay for, and I don't have it, so I'm at a loss. Nonetheless, it just seems very odd. So I reported myself for possible plagiarism (I sent an email) and I'm waiting to see what happens on Monday. As I write this it's Saturday evening.
My question is: What can I expect? Is it time to plan for the worst, or will it likely blow over?
I need to be absolutely clear: I don't know why I'm in this situation. The matching words could be entirely a coincidence, but it mattered to me to flag it out of principle and because it's better I bring this to attention early. I have acted with complete integrity and I will continue to do so.
I get that it's only six words, but it's very concerning to me that it was a very similar point about the same text. I'm not the kind of person to panic, but obviously the dissertation is a very pivotal part of the degree, so the stress level is up a little bit. Most of the advice online is in response to people saying they deliberately stole work and got caught. Well, that isn't me. So, if anyone has advice about what's next, I'd appreciate you dropping me a reply. 😊
Such is life.
Regards,
Jed.
This sounds like one of those situations where musician A accuses musician B of copyright infringement because that happen to have used the same six notes in the same order - by pure coincidence.
Six words which happen to accidentally coincide with those used in the chapter title of a book you've never read does not make for a strong plagiarism argument. Is all likelihood nothing will happen as a result of this "infringement".
Original post by Jed4
(I am an English Literature BA student, final year).
Hi everyone, I submitted my dissertation a couple of days ago. After submission, I was checking the Turnitin score and noticed there were six words which were flagged as identical to some words found in a book. In this book chapter, the critic was talking about the same text as me, and the same theme as I was, and making a very similar point about it. It appears to be a book you have to pay for, and I don't have it, so I'm at a loss about how it happened. I only managed to see the source text because it shows you a bit of it through Turnitin. It just seems very odd. I reported myself for possible plagiarism (I sent an email) and I'm waiting to see what happens on Monday. As I write this it's Saturday evening.
My question is: What can I expect? Is it time to plan for the worst, or will it likely blow over?
I need to be absolutely clear: I don't know why I'm in this situation. The matching words could be entirely a coincidence, but it mattered to me to flag it out of principle and because it's better I bring this to attention early. I have acted with complete integrity and I will continue to do so.
I get that it's only six words, but it's very concerning to me that it was a very similar point about the same text. I'm not the kind of person to panic, but obviously the dissertation is a very pivotal part of the degree, so the stress level is up a little bit. Most of the advice online is in response to people saying they deliberately stole work and got caught. Well, that isn't me. So, if anyone has advice about what's next, I'd appreciate you dropping me a reply. 😊
Such is life.
Regards,
Jed.
Hi everyone, I submitted my dissertation a couple of days ago. After submission, I was checking the Turnitin score and noticed there were six words which were flagged as identical to some words found in a book. In this book chapter, the critic was talking about the same text as me, and the same theme as I was, and making a very similar point about it. It appears to be a book you have to pay for, and I don't have it, so I'm at a loss about how it happened. I only managed to see the source text because it shows you a bit of it through Turnitin. It just seems very odd. I reported myself for possible plagiarism (I sent an email) and I'm waiting to see what happens on Monday. As I write this it's Saturday evening.
My question is: What can I expect? Is it time to plan for the worst, or will it likely blow over?
I need to be absolutely clear: I don't know why I'm in this situation. The matching words could be entirely a coincidence, but it mattered to me to flag it out of principle and because it's better I bring this to attention early. I have acted with complete integrity and I will continue to do so.
I get that it's only six words, but it's very concerning to me that it was a very similar point about the same text. I'm not the kind of person to panic, but obviously the dissertation is a very pivotal part of the degree, so the stress level is up a little bit. Most of the advice online is in response to people saying they deliberately stole work and got caught. Well, that isn't me. So, if anyone has advice about what's next, I'd appreciate you dropping me a reply. 😊
Such is life.
Regards,
Jed.
Hi there,
Whilst I can only speculate and don't know for certain what the outcome/decision will be - this sounds exceedingly like a coincidence.
You can only have so many opinions about a specific piece of work/idea, so your analysis being picked up for 6 words really shouldn't be looked into further.
Often things are picked up by turn it in and then when the teacher reads the report discounted as an obvious fault or coincidence, Try not to worry!
And letting the teacher know in advance clears it up even more for you - I assume you will get a message back in a few days excusing it and letting you know that coincidences happen
Hope this helps
Amber
Coventry University Student Ambassador
Reply 3
Original post by Jed4
(I am an English Literature BA student, final year).
Hi everyone, I submitted my dissertation a couple of days ago. After submission, I was checking the Turnitin score and noticed there were six words which were flagged as identical to some words found in a book. In this book chapter, the critic was talking about the same text as me, and the same theme as I was, and making a very similar point about it. It appears to be a book you have to pay for, and I don't have it, so I'm at a loss about how it happened. I only managed to see the source text because it shows you a bit of it through Turnitin. It just seems very odd. I reported myself for possible plagiarism (I sent an email) and I'm waiting to see what happens on Monday. As I write this it's Saturday evening.
My question is: What can I expect? Is it time to plan for the worst, or will it likely blow over?
I need to be absolutely clear: I don't know why I'm in this situation. The matching words could be entirely a coincidence, but it mattered to me to flag it out of principle and because it's better I bring this to attention early. I have acted with complete integrity and I will continue to do so.
I get that it's only six words, but it's very concerning to me that it was a very similar point about the same text. I'm not the kind of person to panic, but obviously the dissertation is a very pivotal part of the degree, so the stress level is up a little bit. Most of the advice online is in response to people saying they deliberately stole work and got caught. Well, that isn't me. So, if anyone has advice about what's next, I'd appreciate you dropping me a reply. 😊
Such is life.
Regards,
Jed.
Hi everyone, I submitted my dissertation a couple of days ago. After submission, I was checking the Turnitin score and noticed there were six words which were flagged as identical to some words found in a book. In this book chapter, the critic was talking about the same text as me, and the same theme as I was, and making a very similar point about it. It appears to be a book you have to pay for, and I don't have it, so I'm at a loss about how it happened. I only managed to see the source text because it shows you a bit of it through Turnitin. It just seems very odd. I reported myself for possible plagiarism (I sent an email) and I'm waiting to see what happens on Monday. As I write this it's Saturday evening.
My question is: What can I expect? Is it time to plan for the worst, or will it likely blow over?
I need to be absolutely clear: I don't know why I'm in this situation. The matching words could be entirely a coincidence, but it mattered to me to flag it out of principle and because it's better I bring this to attention early. I have acted with complete integrity and I will continue to do so.
I get that it's only six words, but it's very concerning to me that it was a very similar point about the same text. I'm not the kind of person to panic, but obviously the dissertation is a very pivotal part of the degree, so the stress level is up a little bit. Most of the advice online is in response to people saying they deliberately stole work and got caught. Well, that isn't me. So, if anyone has advice about what's next, I'd appreciate you dropping me a reply. 😊
Such is life.
Regards,
Jed.
Hey @Jed4,
You've done the right thing by flagging the issue up with your lecturer/examiner, especially considering the dissertation is such a major part of your degree. However, it's unlikely you'll be accused of plagiarism; six words that accidentally ended up in the same order as another related text likely won't be enough evidence for your university to pursue a genuine case of academic plaigarism.
Furthemore, self-reporting should only serve to highlight that you truly didn't intend to plagiarise - otherwise, you would avoid flagging it up at all.
Hope this helped!
Eve (Kingston Rep).
(edited 1 month ago)
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