Software Systems Components

Plagiarism

This page discusses many aspects of plagiarism, read thoroughly and make sure you understand it. If you have any questions please ask your TAs.

Q. When will you be a suspect?

  1. If your code looks similar to one of the students (i.e. same structure and blocks of code, and possibly same classes) and you have NOT referenced your code carefully.
  2. If you worked with one of your friends on the assignment and your work happened to have similar blocks of code. You are NOT allowed to code with friends at all. You may only discuss a solution verbally and share ideas, and that means if the two of you are found with similar code you will be suspected and you will be punished. It's NOT natural to have two students coding an identical algorithm, each programmer has his own style. (Try it yourself! Code a relatively complex and long algorithm, leave it for a day or two, and try to code it again, and you will see that your solution is unlikely to be a copy of the first one!)
  3. If you request too much support from the demonstrators.
    Too much support is equivalent to "coding blocks of statements". You have to code for yourself, the demonstrators are there to help you debug but not to tell you the solution or code for you!
Your code will be automatically flagged and reported to us. Normally 2-3 members check your code before you are called in for a formal meeting with a senior lecturer.

Importing remarks :::::: Reusing code is *not* a problem in two cases ONLY:

  1. you have referenced the work in such a way that your marker can identify your own programming, and can identify reused code.
  2. you have reused a code and built on it. Why is this? Because we need to mark you on your ability to program a solution, not only to modify an existing one. The limit is 65% of reused code. More than that, is NOT acceptable.
Not referencing is a clear violation of intellectual property rights.

Q. How do we mark students?

On two criteria:
  1. Their ability to code
  2. Their ability to reuse code. Too much reuse to a level where the student simply didn't do much, is *not* acceptable (i.e. over 65% of reused code is *not* OK).

If students only do 2), then we can't check the first criterion our exercises are individual assessments, and our learning outcome is to make sure that all students can program whether they've reused code or not.

The second year module, aims to push students to do well in their final year project. If student only reuse code, they'll be suspected of plagiarism at a much more critical level.

How to get '0' in your exercise? *

  • copy another student's code in your program
  • use code obtained from a book or the web as if it were your own without stating the source
  • get someone else to do your work (e.g. paying an on-line programmer).
  • hand in any work that someone else has produced as if it were your own
  • copy parts of a problem solution from someone else
  • consult others about (or work with others on) critical aspects of the problem and its solution, without acknowledging their help
  • make your own work available for other students to copy.

Remember: copying other people's work and pretending it is your own is cheating. Don't do it - the punishment for plagiarism can be severe.

[* Source : http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/internal/students/plag-policy.html ]

Finally

You must keep in mind that any work you use must be referenced properly to identify what you have coded and what someone else has coded, in case another student copies the same work. If you do reference properly where your marker can identify your code and the reused code, you will not be accused of plagiarism, and your case will be dropped without notifying you.

  1. Everything you reuse MUST be referenced according to our referencing style.
  2. You must NOT work with friends at coding level at all
  3. Make sure your code is stored in your work folder... projects placed on the desktop are publicly accessible to anyone. It is your responsibility to keep your assignments in a secure folder.

Process suspected cases takes too much effort and time from us, we really don't want to accuse anyone. However, for the sake of fairness we cannot let plagiarists get the same mark as hard working students.

Note on the side, if you are ever called in for a meeting, don't try to deny it. The consequences can be really severe.