Fear of accidental plagiarism... (1 Viewer)

[mystify]

For all those who are doing the Intro to law case note, when we adapt ideas from the case such as outlining the arguments of both parties do we need to reference whose judgement, and what page that idea came from and if so what if the arguments have been summed up from the entire case....it would be impossible to do but im so worried that whoever marks it might claim that it is plagiarised because it is an 'idea' taken from a source... In essence that is the whole point of the case note isnt it?

Perhaps the all-wise, helpful 'Jonathan A' or anyone else for that matter can clarify this and ease my worries.

 

[Cape]

I don't do the intro to law class - but maybe I can help you out and calm your nerves.

You plagarise if you take a quote from a source without referencing it.

You said that you got an idea from a source. Generally that doesn't need referencing (however it might be different for law). If you had to reference every idea you got, your whole assignment would be references But generally, when you start an assignment, you get ideas from sources to help you answer to question and then you use sources to back these up. Its impossible for everyone to have an idea on for every question at uni.

Hope this helps, sorry I couldn't answer your question directly.

 

[funky_a]

Ohh I am scared of this too.
But what happens if say, you come up with an idea/conclusion and you are unaware that it has been used by some acedemic/ etc or something?

 

[Cape]

You can use people's ideas if it backs up your idea for the question that you have to answer. Just remember if you directly copy something reference it, and you will be fine. Don't stress too much about it. You will soon get used to it.

funky_a - its impossible to know what every academics idea's are, I'm sure you don't have time to sit down and reas billions of journals about a topic. People will always have the same or different opinions. If you do have the same conclusion - thats not plagarism. Plagarism is just copying ones ideas (directly) without referencing. Its hard to explain though.

 

[LaraB]

if you're paraphrasing what someone else said, ie their idea, you have to reference/cite it coz its the same thing as aquote in effect.

if its an idea you came up with as a result of reading someone elses stuff i dont think you have to reference it, but if you wanna make sure, just reference it and say as supported by blah blah blah

- dont say "as supported by" tho - i jus used that coz i dont have stuhmcke handy - have a look in stuhmcke, she outlines how you reference stuff like that

 

[klh]

first years arent stricitly criticised for plagiarism as much as 3rd years and 2nd years [EDIT: woops, i meant 3rd/2nd year subject]. i did a unit and my tutor said we were very close to it but if we were 3rd years, it would be marked down.
i mean if they were really nazis, all ideas from your writings could be said as plagiarism. i think cape summed it well. if you blatantly cut and paste from a course that the lecturer knows about, then yes your gooone.

 

[Jonathan A]

For all those who are doing the Intro to law case note, when we adapt ideas from the case such as outlining the arguments of both parties do we need to reference whose judgement, and what page that idea came from and if so what if the arguments have been summed up from the entire case....it would be impossible to do but im so worried that whoever marks it might claim that it is plagiarised because it is an 'idea' taken from a source... In essence that is the whole point of the case note isnt it?

Perhaps the all-wise, helpful 'Jonathan A' or anyone else for that matter can clarify this and ease my worries.

Issue of plagiarism here is very minor, so long as you don't copy anyone else or take an academic's work and claim it as your own. The good thing about this assignment is we don't need to go beyond the case.

Referencing properly is not an issue of plagirism, rather it's a skill of legal writing in providing evidence for why you have to come to your conclusion. E.g. "The judge in the case distinguished the facts from the case brought forward by the respondants (footnote here to the relevant page)"

 

[Jonathan A]

Ohh I am scared of this too.
But what happens if say, you come up with an idea/conclusion and you are unaware that it has been used by some acedemic/ etc or something?

Then you probably wont be done for plagiarism, however chances are you would need to back up why you have come to a conclusion which would need to come from sources.

 

[Jonathan A]

if you're paraphrasing what someone else said, ie their idea, you have to reference/cite it coz its the same thing as aquote in effect.

if its an idea you came up with as a result of reading someone elses stuff i dont think you have to reference it, but if you wanna make sure, just reference it and say as supported by blah blah blah

- dont say "as supported by" tho - i jus used that coz i dont have stuhmcke handy - have a look in stuhmcke, she outlines how you reference stuff like that

Indeed she does.

It is important to note when refereing a judgement of the court, you do not state that the 'court' handed down the judgement, unless it's unanimous. If it was only a majority, then you would state "that majority of the court held".

 

[LaraB]

Just something to rememebr guys too - although incorrect citing/referencing isn't plagiarism necessarily... it still can lose you marks

so even tho, yeah sure 1st years may not be as strictly penalised for it as say 3rd years, its still better to get into the habit of doing it right now rather than haveing to learn later on and losing marks in the process

 

[Cape]

Just something to rememebr guys too - although incorrect citing/referencing isn't plagiarism necessarily... it still can lose you marks

This includes putting full stops in wrong places stupid pol glad hes gone to Thailand