Hi,
I’m a film studies student who is just about to graduate. I turned in my final project and accepted a job that I had interviewed for in September.
I thought that I was all set to graduate in December. Yesterday, I received a call from my school informing me that I’ve been charged with plagiarism and will not be able to graduate pending further investigation. Since receiving the call, I’ve been going over my project in my head over and over again. I didn’t copy anyone else’s work have plenty of citations for all of the material that I referenced. The only reason that I can think of is maybe it’s because I submitted the project for a class I was taking in addition to submitting it as my final degree project. Though I’m not sure. Can you tell me, if I submit a project for a class and then as my degree project is this plagiarism?
I am going back to school next week to discuss the charges. I’m afraid that if they consider my final project to be plagiarized that I’ll lose my degree and my job. What can I do?
Regards,
T.
Hi T.,
Thank you for your email and inquiry! I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Unfortunately, some institutions do not look favorably on student re-use of work submitted in one class or project to another. Such use does constitute a form of self-plagiarism. Since you do not know all of the details around the plagiarism claim, your first step should be to get all of the details concerning why your project was flagged. Also, be sure to be proactive in discussing or identifying ways that you might be able to make amends for this situation.
Hope this helps!
Best,
Jason Chu