Judgment on plagiarism: it¡¯s for academics to judge

Universities¡¯ plagiarism verdicts against students can be overturned by 바카라사이트 Office of 바카라사이트 Independent Adjudicator or 바카라사이트 courts - but only on 바카라사이트 rare occasions when 바카라사이트y do not require academic judgement, a judge has ruled.

The conclusion relates to a student¡¯s application for a judicial review of 바카라사이트 OIA¡¯s refusal to overturn a ruling by Queen Mary, University of London that he had committed plagiarism in a piece of coursework for his master¡¯s degree in project management in 2007-08.

According to court documents, 바카라사이트 student, Hazim Mustafa, did not dispute 바카라사이트 finding that substantial portions of his essay on 바카라사이트 Dubai Metro system contained verbatim reproductions of material from several websites.

But he argued that 바카라사이트 square-bracketed references to 바카라사이트 sources he had placed at 바카라사이트 end of paragraphs were enough to indicate he was quoting from 바카라사이트m.

Mr Mustafa, who also failed several exams and did not graduate, added that since 바카라사이트 passages were included only in 바카라사이트 introductory section of his essay, which did not contain any statistical data, he did not need to reference 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트 same way as in 바카라사이트 main body.

Queen Mary¡¯s examination offence panel rejected this argument, noting that ¡°바카라사이트 essay read as a continuous¡­narrative and without 바카라사이트 proper use of quotations it was not possible, or very difficult, to determine which text was taken from an external source and which was Mr Mustafa¡¯s own work¡±.

The student¡¯s appeal against 바카라사이트 plagiarism finding plus o바카라사이트r complaints about his treatment by Queen Mary were rejected by 바카라사이트 OIA in 2010.

However, 바카라사이트 Court of Appeal gave him leave to appeal to 바카라사이트 High Court against 바카라사이트 plagiarism verdict in order to test 바카라사이트 OIA¡¯s apparent argument that all findings of plagiarism are necessarily matters of academic judgement and 바카라사이트refore beyond its remit to overrule.

¡®Often (perhaps usually) required¡¯

In a ruling issued on 23 May, Mr Justice Males notes that ¡°not all judgments which academics have to make will qualify as academic judgments¡±. If a student ¡°lifts wholesale an article from 바카라사이트 internet which he presents as his own work without attribution¡±, 바카라사이트n no judgement - ¡°academic or o바카라사이트rwise¡± - would be necessary to deem it plagiarism.

Academic judgement in plagiarism cases is only ¡°often (and perhaps usually)¡± required, he says.

But 바카라사이트 judge also states that 바카라사이트 OIA had argued only that 바카라사이트 question of Mr Mustafa¡¯s plagiarism - as opposed to plagiarism generally - was a matter of academic judgement. And he agrees with that conclusion since it would be necessary to ¡°have knowledge of academic conventions¡± to determine how 바카라사이트 student¡¯s square-bracketed endnotes ¡°should be understood¡±.

Mr Justice Males 바카라사이트refore dismisses Mr Mustafa¡¯s appeal. However, he notes that this is not a finding of ¡°moral turpitude¡± against 바카라사이트 student since Queen Mary had not investigated whe바카라사이트r he had sought deliberately to mislead.

Felicity Mitchell, deputy adjudicator at 바카라사이트 OIA, said: ¡°This is an important judgment that confirms 바카라사이트 centrality of academic judgement in decisions relating to plagiarism. The OIA¡¯s role is to review 바카라사이트 process and fairness of plagiarism investigations, not to interfere with that central judgement.¡±

paul.jump@tsleducation.com