7 replies to this topic

[brofessional]

I presume many of us doing the IB use the same textbook to revise from or maybe the same IB websites to make notes.

Would it be possible for the IB to rule it as plagiarism if several candidates happened to word an answer using the exact same words and phrases? I'm talking about exams here, i.e. not IAs or EEs...

[kim luffy]

Uhm, is that even possible to write the exact same thing? Well i doubt they can, i mean unless you guys were caught cheating on the exam otherwise it's no crime to use the same sources and all. Also if you guys were in the same school, in the same examination hall, then may be it would be considered as plagiarism. Otherwise, i don't think it would. Though i may be wrong. But that's my opinion.

[Award Winning Boss]

no a lot of questions can be similar... plus it's an exam so unless they found out you were cheating using notes in the exam hall then you'll be fine.

Plus, what are the chances of 10 candidates using the exact same phrases and sentences anyway?

[brofessional]

well I was thinking for sciences mainly. people say that biology is based on memorising. I mean it's not the most unlikely thing ever and you know what the IB are like... I'm nervous about using my textbook now

[Award Winning Boss]

You'll be fine, you have nothing to worry about

[Pola]

I have a question to you guys, regarding plagiarism.. I'm Polish and I have used a few Polish books for my Extended Essay, in psych... I was wondering if it would be plagiarism when I translate one or two sentences exactly how they are written in Polish to English?  :/ I footnote everything, of course...

[Emy Glau-ski]

Pola, on Jan 16, 2012 - 01:01, said:

I have a question to you guys, regarding plagiarism.. I'm Polish and I have used a few Polish books for my Extended Essay, in psych... I was wondering if it would be plagiarism when I translate one or two sentences exactly how they are written in Polish to English?  :/ I footnote everything, of course...

I wouldn't think this is plagiarism. I did the same thing with my EE. I found a document that was very very helpful for providing a counterargument but it was only in Spanish, so I just translated it as I read it and when I quoted it in my EE I said it in English, but I included the source in the bibliography and mentioned that it was originally in Spanish. I've also seen this with several IAs and other EEs so I would not worry about being cited for plagiarism as long as you footnote it properly.

[Positron]

I don't think they can punish you for something they can't prove. So in exams, no, I don't think they could (or of course they could). One of my friends memorized an essay with his friend and they both used it in the Finnish matriculation exams. No one could prove that they had cheated (which they hadn't, they had just memorized an essay), so they got away with it.

And of course you can translate texts, even if you translate them "exactly" as they were in the original source. That's because there is no definitive/correct translation, and therefore it is only your interpretation of the text. Someone else might translate it the same way you did, but it is still only one of the possible translations. No one can own knowledge itself, only thing that could protected is the exact combination of the words.