i have been accused on plagorizing a paper?

Question

ok, im in middle school and i have been accused on plagorizing a paper and im going to get an office referral right after minter break! and i made just about everything in my own words, and all i took out was the information. i even sited the source where i got the info from! i really need to know a way that i can convince them that i'm not plastering this paper. i really need some help because my parents are going to kill me.

Answer 1

show them research
the sites and books you used
and your notes.
get them to ask questions about the topic
so you can prove you know about the topic
and that it wasnt just a copy &paste job

Answer 2

For middle school students, plagiarism is usually suspected when something is written with spelling, grammar, and general organization far better than a student usually exhibits.

Now, your question above shows that although you're creative with spelling, you write good sentences. If you did a good job of proofreading and correcting your spelling, it's possible that your work looks too good to be that of a middle-schooler.

While I'm a bit worried about your statement that you "made just about everything" in your own words, it sounds like you did indeed make an effort to do your own work, and your citation of the source should be further evidence of this.

What's necessary here is to find out why your teacher thought you'd copied this. Is it possible that someone else copied your work, and has accused you of copying theirs? This sort of thing happens.

Whatever happens, make sure that they know that _you_ know that this is a serious charge, and that it reflects on your honesty and integrity. If things are as you say they are, then you must defend yourself vigorously--not to avoid punishment, but to defend your own reputation.

Good luck with this.

Answer 3

First of all get a record, in writing on paper or e-mail, stating specifically what parts of the paper and what evidence was used (for example, "this paper is too well written not to be plagiarized" or "when submitted to www.checkplagiarism.com this paper was marked as plagiarized." [I made that site name up as typical.])
Second, go back to your source and get a copy and print it out to have a reference.
Third, do your own work and compare the source to the paper you wrote and see what comes close.
If the complaint is based on "too well written" or a similar observational and subjective basis, be prepared with comments about doing extra work to better your previous stuff, more use of spell checking, etc.
If the complaint is based on phrases and sentences being too similar to referenced material that is not your source, then ask about getting copies of that referenced material. It may be that, while echoing your source, the way you rephrased entries may have moved them closer to another reference that you never saw.
In other words, deal with a mushy complaint with specifics and deal with a specific complaint by showing your own specifics.

Answer 4

if you gave credit to your source and anything that was copied word for word was in quotations then you have nothing to worry about. If, however, you failed to cite something properly you would only get an explanation of how to cite properly. If that's the case I'd recommend getting a copy of Writer's Inc. as it got me through most of middle school and all of high school English/Literature classes.

The following are examples of the same quote from the same source, one done incorrectly and the other in one correct method as listed by the site (see "Assembling a List of Works Cited" http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/workscited/index.html on the different ways to do so).
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bad example:
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In academic communities, the ethics of research demand that writers be credited for their work and their writing. Not to do so is to plagiarize, to intentionally or unintentionally appropriate the ideas, language, or work of another without sufficient acknowledgement that such material is not one's own (1).

1. Duke University Libraries. "Citing Sources" retrieved 12/23/07 from http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/


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good example:
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***In a paragraph, it would be quoted in with the other text. If it's more than one sentence I'd recommend making it into its own paragraph, each line indented at least 1/4 inch in on both the left and right from the rest of the text and at a slightly smaller and italicized font (still in quotes, of course).
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"In academic communities, the ethics of research demand that writers be credited for their work and their writing. Not to do so is to plagiarize, to intentionally or unintentionally appropriate the ideas, language, or work of another without sufficient acknowledgement that such material is not one's own."(1)


1. Duke University Libraries. "Citing Sources" retrieved 12/23/07 from http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/

Answer 5

At this point in time you have big problems. Sincerely, ask them what the problem is and don't argue with your accusers. Be contrite.

Ask if you can take a remedial class.

If it's your first offense you may just get flunked.

Good luck!

Answer 6

tell them to find the paper on the net that u did this and if they find it then ur screwed but if u did it in ur own words then they cant prove it so just tell them to prove it

Answer 7

If you didn't plagerize then you have nothing to worry about. If they say you plagerized, they'll show you what you wrote and where you copied it from, if you didn't copy it then they won't be able to do that.