Does this constitute plagiarization??

[fateful_gravitation]

My 17th century poetry and prose college prof accused me of plagiarizing on a final paper. I wrote back an explanation, saying basically this: I started researching the topic early on. 2 months before, I found a particular website, took some notes, intermingled with my own thoughts, and forgot all about it. A week before the paper was due, I went to the library, but found that the only three books on the topic were checked out (we choose our own topics). So I went back into my notes and typed up what I had. I completely forgot I got them from an actual website. I have never plagiarized or written a full-research paper (I don't know much about the time period or historic figure). This is honestly what I believe happened. Is it plagiarism? Now my prof wants to schedule a hearing, and I've recently suspected that I sent her a draft version, which contained general phrases I found online that were inspirational to me. What can I do? Do I have any defense if it was unintentional?First of all, I know plagiarism is bad. That's common sense people. Someone plagiarized some homework of mine when I was a freshman. In my case, when I took the notes, it was just to get general background knowledge. I wasn't intending to use it. It was at least a month before the essay was actually assigned, and unfortunately, by that time, I had forgotten that the notes came from a website. I am human and mistakes can happen

[bluegoat1143433]

It is absolutely plagiarism. Your excuse is the #1 excuse cited by students accused. There is no "unintentional" defense in the case of plagiarism. (college prof)

[eri7991]

It's plagiarism if it's copied from the website, even if you didn't mean to do it. The best you can do is tell the panel what happened and accept full responsibility - and tell them the steps you'll take to make sure it never happens again. Denying it or making lots of excuses doesn't go over well.

[RandytheAnswerer]

wow, you are in over your head. i've never had that happen to me so I don't know how I would have anything to say against a professor. People tend to believe professors over students. teachers usually know plagerism when they see it.

[ChrisR2644]

Unfortunately in this topic, ignorance is not bliss. Forgetting to cite a source does not change the rules for plagiarism.

[shadows06904947]

okay, first of all, plagairism's bad! mmk! ...no, but seriously what they are going to say is that you should have picked a differnt topic after you found out that the books were checked out. If you had to write a bibiliography, then they will use it against you saying that you should have noticed that you didn't not reword the paragraphs accordingly. If you did obtain the information from a site and did not cite your refernces, then that too is plagiarism. They might let you off easy, because of the situation, but you will probably fail for that paper. Sorry!! That is just how it is...

[mr_fartson6233]

It is your responsibility to cite your sources; that includes web sites. Any time you discuss someone else's ideas, even when they are paraphrased or intermixed with your own ideas, you must acknowledge where they come from. At the college level, that is a given.If you are a freshman and you copied the material unintentionally, I would let you off - at higher years, you should know your responsibilities. And I would suggest planning your time so you can properly prepare and write your papers in the future - rush jobs based on web sites will get you a lousy grade even if you cite your sources,

[DorothyK]

It is most definitely plagiarism. Whenever I take notes off of a website, book, journal article etc, I always at the very least, write down the name of the article, book, website and authors. That way I can go back and find out which one it was that I need to cite properly in my text. This is just common sense. Even though it is your first research paper and you may seriously not have meant to do this, you are at fault for not taking every precaution necessary. Plus, when you wrote that paper, you should have realized when you reading and typing it- wow, I don't talk that way, I don't write like this on a normal basis, and these aren't my thoughts! That was certainly what stood out to your professor- plagiarized work is easy to spot when it is obvious that the style of wording has changed.