hi , I just got an email from my professor that the TA suspects me for plagiarizing . This is my first time getting academic integrity/offence email . It involves my final which is worth 30% . The issue was some of my answers were not properly paraphrased and misreference as I thought citing from Wikipedia isn’t valid . I know Im the dumbest person in this uni right now , but currently this issue has give me a lot of pressure . Thanks in advance for your help 🙂
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hey there,
not sure what your specific question is, but i can tell you what will probably happen next. according to the code of behaviour on academic matters, you’ll need to make yourself available for a meeting with your instructor, in which the two of you will discuss what happened, your instructor will give you more information, etc. etc. nothing you say in this meeting can be used against you, so you and your instructor can have as open a conversation as possible about the situation. if, after that, your instructor still believes that you committed an academic offense, your case will get passed on to your department chair or dean, and things will be dealt with accordingly.
in your case, since your assignment was worth more than 10%, it’ll likely be the dean who decides what kind of reprimand you’ll be facing. but no use speculating about what that’ll be until you meet with your instructor.
to address specific elements of the message you sent me:
in general, citing from wikipedia isn’t really a good call. if you’re really insistent on using it, scroll down to the bottom of the wikipedia page and see if you can find any legitimate sources lurking in the footnotes. it’s a much better to (properly!!) use and cite those sources than it is to use or cite wikipedia. don’t cite wikipedia. at most, use it as a starting point.
anyway, you pay for access to u of t’s library of online journals and stuff, anyway, so it may be worth the extra effort next time to pull sources from there instead. i know the language can be more difficult to parse and it’s a little less straightforward than doing a simple google search, but the quality of info you’ll get there is so, so much better than wikipedia. not using a service you already paid for is kinda like:
as for proper paraphrasing… this document from the uc writing centre is pretty legit in terms of the guidelines it provides. at the core of it, they outline two essential points. first, you NEED to reference your source (in-text, like through footnotes or whatever your prof wants). second, it’s essential that you use your own words and sentence structures when paraphrasing. it may be beneficial to give those guidelines a look, just so that you’re clear on what the expectations are for next time.
in general, i’d recommend that you reach out to your friendly local registrar. book a phone appointment and explain your situation. it would be useful for you to talk your situation over with someone who can give you advice specific to your case. it would also be a good opportunity for you to ask any specific questions you might have.
a final note: i need you guys to understand that i can’t bail you out, or give you reassurance i ultimately can’t stand behind, or even predict what’s going to happen to you. i’m willing to answer as many of these as are sent in, but i (as a fellow student!) can only be useful in these ways, as far as academic integrity cases are concerned:
- explain the code of academic conduct
- give you tips to avoid academic integrity issues in the future
- walk you through the next steps of navigating an academic integrity case
- refer you to resources
this isn’t @ you specifically, just an announcement for anyone asking academic integrity questions right now. i’ve gotten more this week than i usually do over the span of, like, five months.
best of luck finishing the rest of the semester if you’re not yet done. we’ll pull through.
be Boundless,
aska