Reporting Plagarism

lankylint

Hello,

I am aware of a group of students who used (or stole) my work and put their names as creators. This happened about 3 or 4 times till now. I willingly gave them my work on their pretext that they will use it for reference and create their own work but they used EXACTLY what I gave them.

How and where should I report it?

Do you think I should? Will it have an adverse effect on their careers?

Thank you.

Edit: Going through the conversations. I realized that it is a lot more than 3-4 times. Basically, every submission since the start of the course has been directly or indirectly created by me. Even including the "speech" given during presentations.

Siuin

Report them. I'm surprised you left it go on this long. It's their own fault for being such idiots and cheating, and they don't deserve to get away with it. Welcome to the real world, folks.

lankylint

Siuin wrote: »

Report them. I'm surprised you left it go on this long. It's their own fault for being such idiots and cheating, and they don't deserve to get away with it. Welcome to the real world, folks.

I really want to. Do you have any idea where I should email them? (FYI, I do not study in UCD. I personally knew one of the group members before but obviously did not expect such @#*&@$ behavior).

Micklaus

So it's a group thing? Do they not have to upload their essays online? Or is all the work going under the name of the group?

lankylint

Micklaus wrote: »

So it's a group thing? Do they not have to upload their essays online? Or is all the work going under the name of the group?

They do. I am not sure if everyone in the group is willingly doing it. However, a few of the group members are. The others are just lazy.

For example, a few days ago, they were told to make a presentation as a group.
It involved making a spreadsheet.

Since I was studying something similar, I tweaked mine and gave it to them and they simply copy-pasted it entirely.

In fact, I even have access to the blackboard account of one of them and was told to submit one of the files after I was done making it because they felt sleepy.

I know it is partially my fault but I feel it's unfair to the other students and it's time to come clean.

hidinginthebush

Well if it's a blackboard submission, you can see who they're submitting it to, and get in contact with that person.

Funny slightly related story, when I was doing my PhD, we had to supervise lads and correct the subsequent reports. So one September, one of the postgrads was new to that particular experiment, so he got some of the previous years' submitted reports, to see what to expect. It just happened that one of the old reports he picked up was EXACTLY the same as the report he got from the first group. So he asked if anyone had reports from that group from the previous year and this new copying group. It turned out every report they submitted was exactly the same as the previous years one. The got pulled on it and got a bolliking, then had to submit all their reports hand-written, and even then they still copied the previous year's work, just by hand this time :rolleyes: Yeah they got a paddlin' and had to repeat.

Micklaus

lankylint wrote: »

They do. I am not sure if everyone in the group is willingly doing it. However, a few of the group members are. The others are just lazy.

For example, a few days ago, they were told to make a presentation as a group.
It involved making a spreadsheet.

Since I was studying something similar, I tweaked mine and gave it to them and they simply copy-pasted it entirely.

In fact, I even have access to the blackboard account of one of them and was told to submit one of the files after I was done making it because they felt sleepy.

I know it is partially my fault but I feel it's unfair to the other students and it's time to come clean.

Yep, you gotta tell the course coordinator. It's only a matter of time before someone notices (If they haven't yet, that software scans everything!) and if someone does notice it'll be too late for you to proclaim innocence.

Siuin

Really hate people who cheat like this- I only found out recently that a chick in my class got her boyfriend's brother (who's graduated with a BA in English) to write one of her essays, which she then went on to get an A in. Such BS.

FutureGuy

Report immediately for so many reasons. If they are caught, whose to say you didn't copy off them or were a part of their group.

They deserve to be caught tbh.

L

Report it immediately to whoever is in charge of the course. The usual 'best case scenario' if two groups hand in similar work is for both groups to get zero.

ironclaw

Before you go reporting, you might want to be absolutely categorically able to prove that it is your work. I'm not doubting you, but you will be asked to prove it. Merely having a copy of the work wouldn't satisfy me if I was presented with it as evidence. I want file names, dates etc etc.

Unless the group will admit to it, which I wouldn't count on by the sounds of it.

On the flip side of the coin, it sounds like you were doing a lot of work for them for a long time, why?

Weepsie

or next time give them wildly misleading information etc etc , perhaps mixed in with some proper work amd see what they do. With a bit of luck theyll submit it and be caned for their rubbishness, it may also arouse suspicion on them.

WoollyRedHat

lankylint wrote: »

In fact, I even have access to the blackboard account of one of them and was told to submit one of the files after I was done making it because they felt sleepy.

They actually said that? The cheek, I would have told them where they could put their spreadsheet.. laziness doesn't come into it!

ironclaw

Weepsie wrote: »

or next time give them wildly misleading information etc etc , perhaps mixed in with some proper work amd see what they do. With a bit of luck theyll submit it and be caned for their rubbishness, it may also arouse suspicion on them.

That would be my line rather than risk a full blown investigation, which you might be brought into etc etc. Its equally an offense (I think) to supply material in the knowledge its being used by someone else i.e. Sitting someone else's exam.

HavingCrack

Siuin wrote: »

Really hate people who cheat like this- I only found out recently that a chick in my class got her boyfriend's brother (who's graduated with a BA in English) to write one of her essays, which she then went on to get an A in. Such BS.

Proving something like that would be nigh on impossible to be honest. In theory every single essay you submit could be done by someone else, how could anyone prove that you didn't do it.

Siuin

HavingCrack wrote: »

Proving something like that would be nigh on impossible to be honest. In theory every single essay you submit could be done by someone else, how could anyone prove that you didn't do it.

Yeah, that's the unfortunate part. But luckily it was only one part of her grade, and she got a NG in the end for not participating in the group project.

Justice! :P

george507

Why you gave them?