plagiarism

[darkangelism]

Ok so my gf got accused of plagiarism because she didnt cite a source in the correct format, even though she gave credit to the original author, and now she has to go before a student court and they will decide if she gets expelled or not and I think that is complete BS and I question the legality of the rule.

[Vautrin]

If she referred to the author and the original piece and did not copy pages she will get away with it.

References are actually quite annoying as every country apparently has its own standard on how to reference; and sometimes different organisations in the same country adhere to different rules.

Sometimes it happens that an author gets credited with one or two lines, and page after page of the original piece is copied into the paper. Which is definitely not done (where is the originality of thought?). If I quoted a book on theoretical physics from the first word to the last, would I have shown any understanding of the subject?

Both instances are infringements on copyright. And either offence suggests the author would not have a sufficient understanding of the subject.

[darkangelism]

it was a direct quote and citied the author, she ended up talking to the dean and he gave her a pardon, but the universities rule is that if is not in quotes it is plagiarism even if the author is cited which is kinda extreme.

[Vautrin]

It is a bit extreme. But it is necessary. I know of dozens of students who refer to an author claiming just one or two lines are quoted, when it is in fact half the article.

Unless she would have written in her own words what the author found (as an explanation - then the words could even be the 90% the same).

Hopefully she will have learned her lesson (annoying as it is, I hate making these references myself as well), so it won't go wrong in the future.