Accusation of plagiarism - 3 years after graduation

It's impossible to answer this without specifics - has the university supplied any?

No specifics - he's just been asked to attend a meeting on Tuesday.

I'm just intrigued how its came about - if he's thrown out coursework then how is he meant to prove his innocence.

He's now just thinking the worst - that he'll be stripped of his degree and will lose his job.

THis is really, really odd. Stating the obvious but there's no chance it's a case of mistaken identity? Has this happened to all students or just him? It seems that too much time has gone by to allow him a fair hearing.

I would seriously suggest that he should get some legal advice.

Well someone must have a copy, or how would they be making the allegation? Surely he handed it in for marking?

This seems very strange - why would they be bothering now, after all this time? Can't imagine who would be looking at coursework from 2005 anyway. Has he spoken to the university at all? I would be phoning them first thing on Monday to clarify what's going on (and to check for mistaken identity as Hazel suggested) and to get a copy of the coursework in question before the meeting on Tuesday.

Does he think he could have plagiarised / did plagiarise any of his essays? How worrying for him, especially over the weekend when everywhere will be closed. Good luck with it.

Hazel - I am thinking it could be mistaken identity too but its came from the same school the degree is from.

He hasn't spoken to anyone else he attended with (to be fair he isn't in touch with them).

I would insist on a copy of the work in question and the supposed 'original' work before agreeing to any meeting. It sounds like an ambush otherwise.

x

Sdaisy - I can't understand either why after all this time they have came back to him. The meeting is meant to be on Tue - they gave him a time to come along - but he doesn't want to go because he thinks it'll be his word against someone elses.

Before attending any meeting, I would insist on being told exactly what I was being accused of, and being sent copies of supporting evidence.

As a professional writer, I'm highly sensitive towards accusations of plagiarism - I'd never do it consciously (that way lies career suicide), but I have a very good memory, especially where memorable phrases are concerned, so it's not at all implausible that I might have accidentally reproduced someone else's work, if only to a limited extent. But I'd only be sure about this if I had sight of the documents in question.

Surely he is within his rights to say 'sorry, Tuesday isn't convenient, please provide all relevant info and we can reschedule'

L
xx

Absolutly. I wouldn't attend any meeting without the details of who has accused you (a student , ex student or the uni itself) and the specific paper they are referring to. I would also ask for a copy of his work and any work supplied which he has alledgely copied, if the reponse to q1doesn't exonerate him.

I certainly wouldn't be going to a meeting with 2 days notice because they'd told me to. Who do they think they are, the police?

WBWCS. If they give him a copy of his work and details of what he's supposedly copied (with full dates etc) then you would at least know what's going on.

I can't see how it could be 'his word against someone else's' - if they are talking about taking away his degree then they will have to have some hard evidence to prove it.

I doubt it would be in his best interests to just not turn up though either, but like I said before I'd want further information and clarification from the university, plus a copy of the assignment to review before the meeting, so it may mean that he needs to ask them to postpone the meeting to a later date to accommodate that (I know I'd have trouble getting time off work at such late notice as well).

Just a thought but I know my uni said they would keep our essays on file to prevent future plagiarism as well i.e. someone in the future gettting a copy of our essays and plagiarising our work - that couldn't be what this is about, could it?

Thanks for all the advice so far.

It's a maths module so don't know how it would work (with regard to memorable phrases etc).

The department won't be able to just take his degree away btw - it would have to go to a proper hearing with the Registrar and then be ratified by the Vice Chancellor. They won't be able to actually do anything on Tuesday.

I'm almost certain this will turn out to be innocent - perhaps someone has plagiarised hsi stuff as sdaisy22 says. It would have to be a really massive thing for a University to go to the trouble of hauling a former student back in. Even if they discovered he'd copied an essay verbatim from someone else I don't think they would bother dealing with it 3 years later.

Working in a uni, I can say a few things:

The uni will still have a copy of his work, and this is what they will base the accusation on. I don't see why it would be just one person's word against another - they will have to have the written evidence, including the essay he submitted.

I think he is well within his rights to ask to reschedule and to ask to see the details of the evidence.

And they are bothering after all this time because they can't not. If a university was found to be allowing plagiarised work to be ignored when it could affect an awarded degree it would be looked on very poorly (by external examiners in the first instance).

But to be honest unless it's a wider problem than one person, or unless it's something that's painfully public, noone would know about it. Who would tell the externals? Why have they found out now? There must be another aspect to it.

I'm sure it will be ok, as people here have said someone may have copied my work - dont think so as only got a 2:2, so they could have copied from someone better. I have thought about it and I now think they have sent the letter to the wrong person and the sooner I clear this up the better.

PS - Darling thank you for caring

H of Jaffacake

Hi,

Well, H got an email today from the uni - they had indeed made an error (this was only after he emailed them). Although its now sorted, I am a bit annoyed - they really should have checked their records!

Thanks for the advice though - very much appreciated.

That's awful! What a horribly worrying weekend you must have had and apparentley all for nothing.