The Cellar - Stealing a Thesis Idea...

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- - Stealing a Thesis Idea... (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=18462)

Regarding my Wikipedia comment: Referencing Wikipedia by proxy is popular for slackerly sorts. To do this you lookup the Wikipage and cite the sources that Wikipedia cites for the facts you need to use.

I have never done this, but I know quite a few people who don't think anything of the practice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perry Winkle (Post 495317)

I have never done this, but I know quite a few people who don't think.

Fixed for you :)

I, and most profs and most universities in the US, use plagiarism software that checks submitted papers against any text available through google, including wikipedia and other reference sites. It also checks published journals, and checks against language used in every other paper turned in to any of the other profs using the software.

The cool thing, for me anyway, is that it doesn't just check for direct quotation, it looks for clusters of infrequently used words, looks for similar structures with synonyms, and shows me the students' paper next to the suspected source along with highlighting to indicate content they think was lifted.

The first day of class, I give my students a brief demonstration of how it works. The quality and originality of the writing has gone up very dramatically as soon as they knew it was in play.

You know in my day, we had to plagiarize everything by hand, using actual printed books!

Many universities over here do the same thing SM. We use the Turnitin system at mine.

I recently used a plagiarism checker on my own paper, just to make damn sure nobody could accuse me of plagiarism even by accident. I passed. :)

Plagiarism software is used in most if not all uni's here. It's interesting that this is not even necessary in some cases when students lift entire paragraphs from online sources and don't even correct the formatting to match their own work.

I mean seriously, if you're going to use something from the internet, at least put it into your own words and make sure you use the right font! ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZenGum (Post 495191)

Aren't they all, secretly?

Seriously, if the situation is as you described, that behaviour sounds very incorrect.

I can think of a few possible explanations:
1. He's a doddery old fool who found this idea in his head, had forgotten where it came from, and decided to be "nice" and throw it out to the students. Or maybe not old and doddery, but a mistake along these lines.
2. The idea is in fact not at all original, but has been around for years, and this time every year he hauls it out for those students who still haven't thought of a thesis topic.
3. He is a jerk. He is screwing you around, belittling you, probably because he perceives your ability and has learned to eliminate all potential rivals immediately.
4. He fancies you, and this is his idea of seduction and foreplay. ;)

If you were in an Australian uni I would suggest you start by seeing one of the student/academic support officers in the students union. Do you have an equivalent service over there?
If you want to take it further, getting something in writing promptly is important. Get that paper trail going.
The problem is, each uni is quite a small community, and this guy is in a field you like. Stomping on his toes will likely come back to haunt you. Even if you have nothing more to do with him, other people will hear about it.
On the other hand, if you don't complain, it establishes a precedent for that kind of behaviour.

How does having your thesis idea copied really affect you?

If you do complain, do so tactfully and in accordance with all the official rules and procedures. For goodness's sake avoid the angry email reflex. But I'm sure you knew that.

Good luck.

P.S. Fifteen pages is not a god-damn thesis. I wouldn't even start saying "sub-thesis" until you pass 10,000 words. Maybe we use the terms differently.

Pssst. There is a long history with said, prof. I'm not sure if you were around when the rash of utter bullshit broke out...:mad:

He's already "on report". Big time. :D

Ah, ignorance. (sigh)

I have now read posts from before I joined, thanks to Cicero's hint. OK, I see what's going on. Sort of.

I personally can't see being so in love with any subject that I'd take the class if taught by a prof who's such an ass. Unless you felt you had something to prove to the prof, or to yourself. Which I can understand, but don't grok how it'd be really productive.

But that's just me and I'm not in those shoes.

It's a graduate level class---I got in with senior permission.

I'm going to decide not to care about this whole thing.

You're a bigger human being than I am Bri, I'd have been bouncing off the walls by now. Not exactly a good way forward lol, probably wold have made myself a bunch of enemies!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianna (Post 495567)

I'm going to decide not to care about this whole thing.

Good. Then you will be even less prepared for the next round of utter bullshit he dishes out. :D

Wait until he starts doing things you can't even prove anymore. That will be fun.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clodfobble (Post 495384)

You know in my day, we had to plagiarize everything by hand, using actual printed books!

I once read an article by somebody who used to work for a "term paper for sale" business (pre-Internet days). Their shitck was that they provided "research services." As a result, every paper they supplied was stamped "For Research Purposes" on each page.

But in practice, if a customer was "good"--polite, paid on time, didn't make unreasonable deadline requests--the stamp would be small and at the bottom of each page, where it could be easily whited out before photocopying. The rude customers who made hairy nuisances of themselves had the stamp in large letters across the main text of the paper, so that somebody had to retype it before it could be submitted.

Submitting somebody else's work as my own never appealed to me. Stressful as I find doing assignments, the buzz of handing in a completed piece is wonderful. These people are missing out on a really nice part of university.