Plagarism

[DOboy13]

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So, my supposed "friend" is applying this cycle and asked if he could look over my secondaries from my cycle last summer to get some ideas going. Well, lo and behold he lifted multiple sentences and chunks of my stuff. I'm not super upset (maybe I should be) but Im not sure what to do. I really don't want to contact the schools and deal with that whole process. I'm assuming if he uses some of the same stuff and applies to the same schools I did from last cycle they will catch him on their own? Its unfortunate because I even sent him my PS and I read his and his was really good (didnt lift any from me anyway). But I gotta imagine that this type of stuff happens much more often, I mean how many ways can you write "Why DO?"

 

[OrthoRehab33]

That sucks, my suggestion is if you want him to be caught then contact the schools he applied to. I somehow doubt with the 5,000-10,000 applicants they get each year, they are really going to cross check secondary essays for plagarism. But I could be wrong, but i do agree with the hyper competitiveness and pressure to submit everything in early as possible this sort of thing must happen quite a bit. But, i have yet to hear people being caught.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Your story sound's really familiar:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1007173

 

[Samuel3]

That sucks, my suggestion is if you want him to be caught then contact the schools he applied to. I somehow doubt with the 5,000-10,000 applicants they get each year, they are really going to cross check secondary essays for plagarism. But I could be wrong, but i do agree with the hyper competitiveness and pressure to submit everything in early as possible this sort of thing must happen quite a bit. But, i have yet to hear people being caught.

My university uses a software that automatically checks our online submissions against other users in their database as well as the internet. It's a very powerful software and several students get caught each year. Let's not doubt anything, universities these days would go for it.

 

[OrthoRehab33]

My university uses a software that automatically checks our online submissions against other users in their database as well as the internet. It's a very powerful software and several students get caught each year. Let's not doubt anything, universities these days would go for it.

interesting, but this is only go to work if both applicants have sent secondaries to the same school? That database is going to be able to pick up on plagarism even if the two applied to different schools? Pretty crazy if it can.

 

[Samuel3]

interesting, but this is only go to work if both applicants have sent secondaries to the same school? That database is going to be able to pick up on plagarism even if the two applied to different schools? Pretty crazy if it can.

If the two colleges are using the same software brand, then yes, it definitely will. I forgot the name of the software but the way it works, whatever submission is saved into its database and it basically cross-checks it.

 

[Conflagration]

interesting, but this is only go to work if both applicants have sent secondaries to the same school? That database is going to be able to pick up on plagarism even if the two applied to different schools? Pretty crazy if it can.

Well, some professors where I'm at use turnitin.com, which is a fairly basic plagiarism checker, and it can run checks against other student's work from different universities.

It's certainly possible.

As for the OP, your friend sounds like an *sshat and I think that you should disclose this to schools. They took advantage of your kindness and as someone who's been handled that way a myriad of times, it riles me up. Academic plagiarism can fry both people at certain places, and you don't deserve to be cooked over trying to help somebody. /rant

 

[chizledfrmstone]

Just some advice. If someone asks for your secondaries and PS they are probably too lazy to do it themselves and will copy bits and pieces.

Someone asked me and I flat out said no.

 

[csx]

My university uses a software that automatically checks our online submissions against other users in their database as well as the internet. It's a very powerful software and several students get caught each year. Let's not doubt anything, universities these days would go for it.

crap....will i get in trouble for "plagerizing" myself? Part of my one of my essay's was taken from a work I had written and was posted online by my university and it clearly shows I was the author. However you wouldn't know this with out investigating.. Would this software you speak of inadvertently screw me over by screening me out?

 

[coolingglasses]

crap....will i get in trouble for "plagerizing" myself? Part of my one of my essay's was taken from a work I had written and was posted online by my university and it clearly shows I was the author. However you wouldn't know this with out investigating.. Would this software you speak of inadvertently screw me over by screening me out?

 

[Pharmakon]

Yes. Such a thing is possible. In personal essay context, it's not a big deal. Academically, it can be a bigger problem. Citation exists so that way other/future scholars can follow the "thought trail" and see how an author came up with ideas/ understand the logic in the thought. If authors didn't refer to their previous works, there would be a great gap of understanding.

 

[coolingglasses]

Yes. Such a thing is possible. In personal essay context, it's not a big deal. Academically, it can be a bigger problem. Citation exists so that way other/future scholars can follow the "thought trail" and see how an author came up with ideas/ understand the logic in the thought. If authors didn't refer to their previous works, there would be a great gap of understanding.

that's what I was getting at.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Yes. Such a thing is possible. In personal essay context, it's not a big deal. Academically, it can be a bigger problem. Citation exists so that way other/future scholars can follow the "thought trail" and see how an author came up with ideas/ understand the logic in the thought. If authors didn't refer to their previous works, there would be a great gap of understanding.

+1

Plus plagiarism of your own work is a big "no no" for publications in general. It shows the future work is not significantly new but borrowed ideas from past works.

 

[Goro]

Just out of curiosity, if you were at an interview, and was asked the common question "what would you do if you saw a classmate cheating?"

would your answer be "I'd turn him in because I can't stand cheaters"

or "I''d tell him to turn himself in or I would"?


These are the only two answers I've ever heard to this question.

Somehow, i suspect that you'd be less than truthful with your answer.

Do the right thing, will ya?

Dishonest doctors start out as dishonest students.

Would you like your friend to operate on your mom?

So, my supposed "friend" is applying this cycle and asked if he could look over my secondaries from my cycle last summer to get some ideas going. Well, lo and behold he lifted multiple sentences and chunks of my stuff. I'm not super upset (maybe I should be) but Im not sure what to do. I really don't want to contact the schools and deal with that whole process. I'm assuming if he uses some of the same stuff and applies to the same schools I did from last cycle they will catch him on their own? Its unfortunate because I even sent him my PS and I read his and his was really good (didnt lift any from me anyway). But I gotta imagine that this type of stuff happens much more often, I mean how many ways can you write "Why DO?"

 

[csx]

Yes. Such a thing is possible. In personal essay context, it's not a big deal. Academically, it can be a bigger problem. Citation exists so that way other/future scholars can follow the "thought trail" and see how an author came up with ideas/ understand the logic in the thought. If authors didn't refer to their previous works, there would be a great gap of understanding.

Okay, in my PS I have used some of the same material/revised it a little. So this is a no-go? 🙁 I just wanna be sure because this was some quality material

 

[coolingglasses]

Okay, in my PS I have used some of the same material/revised it a little. So this is a no-go? 🙁 I just wanna be sure because this was some quality material

You are fine, and that's the point I was trying to make. You're not writing an academic paper, you're just talking about yourself.

 

[Samuel3]

Just out of curiosity, if you were at an interview, and was asked the common question "what would you do if you saw a classmate cheating?"

would your answer be "I'd turn him in because I can't stand cheaters"

or "I''d tell him to turn himself in or I would"?


These are the only two answers I've ever heard to this question.

Somehow, i suspect that you'd be less than truthful with your answer.

Do the right thing, will ya?

Dishonest doctors start out as dishonest students.

Would you like your friend to operate on your mom?

What is the "correct" way of answering this question?

 

[dudeliness]

What is the "correct" way of answering this question?

Answering it honestly.

 

[csx]

You are fine, and that's the point I was trying to make. You're not writing an academic paper, you're just talking about yourself.

wouldn't that software go off though? Unless one took the time to investigate (I doubt they would with all of the applicants), they wouldn't know I wrote the stuff that was placed online.

 

[PhotoMed]

My university also uses a service to check for plagiarism (turnitin.com). This system cross checks submissions with all work submitted to the system from other schools as well as internet resources. The way it works is a report is generated which gives a "% similar" value. High percentages would warrant review, however a high percentage does not necessarily mean that plagiarism has occurred. A human review is required to be certain.

 

[coolingglasses]

wouldn't that software go off though? Unless one took the time to investigate (I doubt they would with all of the applicants), they wouldn't know I wrote the stuff that was placed online.

If you really want to play it safe, paraphrase yourself. Or find a way to include the fact that you had written something before on your PS/application.

Or if you have a pre-med advisor, ask them what they make of the scenario (assuming they're part of the AdCom, mine was)

My university also uses a service to check for plagiarism (turnitin.com). This system cross checks submissions with all work submitted to the system from other schools as well as internet resources. The way it works is a report is generated which gives a "% similar" value. High percentages would warrant review, however a high percentage does not necessarily mean that plagiarism has occurred. A human review is required to be certain.

also this.

 

[csx]

If you really want to play it safe, paraphrase yourself. Or find a way to include the fact that you had written something before on your PS/application.

Or if you have a pre-med advisor, ask them what they make of the scenario (assuming they're part of the AdCom, mine was)



also this.

thanks guys! Hopefully, if anything comes up, they do take the time to double check.

 

[physguy]

My school uses turnitin.com for all lab reports (in an honors class that is taken by only about 30 students/year). I gave a fam member of a friend all my old graded lab reports to get a sense of the grading scale, found out later he lifted paragraphs to pages from the things with minimal changes the whole semester.
Never caught. Don't put so much trust in software.