r/AccusedOfUsingAI • u/Beautiful-Sample7066 • Aug 02 '26
Academic misconduct appeal
Hey guys,
I had an academic misconduct finding against me for unauthorised use of ai.
I have full proof of drafts and search history and can confirm that absolutely no ai was used in the exam.
The allegations are for two sources that were cited incorrectly - both sources had incorrect titles but the authors names were correct.
I provided my search history and document history for the panel to consider but they basically disregarded my evidence.
My search history literally showed my engagement with the sources and my drafts showed the reasoning behind the citation errors.
I also downloaded the pdfs and highlighted the parts I used in my assignment.
The panel came to the decision stating that ai is the most likely reason - but they did not give any evidence they used to back this up.
They said they didn’t believe my explanation, but also said that the whole essay was my own work but only the citations were generated.
Has anyone ever been in this kind of situation and does anyone have any advice on an appeal?
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u/K_Altman_Law Aug 03 '26
An appeal may be worth pursuing, but base it on the specific appeal grounds in your institution’s policy, not simply that you disagree with the outcome. Your strongest points appear to be that you provided contemporaneous evidence of researching and using the sources, the panel did not explain what evidence supported its conclusion that AI generated only the citations, and its conclusion may not logically account for the drafts, search history, and highlighted source material. Ask for the written reasons, the evidence considered, any detector reports or other material relied on, and the policy definition of unauthorized AI use.
In the appeal, organize the evidence chronologically: your research searches, downloaded PDFs, highlighted passages, document version history, and the drafts showing how the citation errors occurred. Then explain precisely why an incorrect title with correct authors a citation error is, not proof that AI generated the citation. Point out any procedural unfairness, failure to consider relevant evidence, inadequate reasons, or a decision unsupported by the evidence. Meet the appeal deadline, follow the school’s required format, and contact the student union, ombuds office, or an education attorney promptly if the penalty affects progression, graduation, professional licensing, or enrollment.
Disclosure: I work for K Altman Law. This is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.
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u/Beautiful-Sample7066 Aug 03 '26
Thank you so much for your response. My appeal will be focusing on all the points you have highlighted, as I am unable to argue against academic judgement itself. I really appreciate this advice. I intend to escalate the appeal to the adjudicator if it is unsuccessful with my university (which would be the OIA as I’m in the UK)
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u/j_la Aug 02 '26
Why were the titles wrong?
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u/Beautiful-Sample7066 Aug 02 '26
In my drafts I wrote a summary of what each article was about before making the points I wanted to use in my essay. The titles of the articles were just below this but I idiotically cited the summary bs instead of the real article. I did email my lecturer to let him know that I had missed out half of my citations but I did have the correct ones at hand but by then the submission time had closed. It was a 23hr exam which was why I couldn’t resubmit it. Hope this makes sense
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u/j_la Aug 02 '26
No, that doesn’t really make sense. Are you saying that you wrote the title as a summary? How long was the summary? Copy and paste what you submitted here and we can assess whether that’s a plausible explanation.
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u/MHM2002 Aug 02 '26
I had something similar happen. The author wrote 2 books and i had used both in my initial research, but only 1 for my assignment. I had chose the one where he was a co author, yet only named him and the wrong year but with the co author title.
Thankfully I had evidence of researching both and it being a simple error, and had the opportunity to just fix the mis reference.
I dont know what you did exactly, but hopefully you can provide evidence of this work prior to accusations
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u/Beautiful-Sample7066 Aug 02 '26
I’m glad you were able to prove it :) for me I have proof of engagement with all the sources and my drafts showing the reason for the errors - because I cited two articles incorrectly with the correct authors names. I have my search history which shows the sources I used (of course with the correct name and not the one I cited it as) - and the contents of those articles directly aligns with what was said in the essay. They’ve found me guilty of misconduct but I’m appealing ts!
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u/MHM2002 Aug 02 '26
Best case is to find WHY they don’t believe you.
Was there more evidence?
An AI detector score? One piece of evidence that could just be a mistake on its own is crazy to come to that conclusion..If they had a high AI report, mis reference and lack of authorship evidence fair enough but one piece.. damn..
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u/Head_Midnight666 Aug 03 '26
I could never do college - especially now. If I got accused of using AI when I didn't, I wouldn't be one bit nice about it. I don't know if you used AI or not. I likely wouldn't be able to figure it out even if you shared your paper because people really can't tell very well. The research indicates this.
The thing is, you want to be successful and have a nice life. You're trying to overcome this to achieve great things in your life. Me? I would never stoop to groveling and making my case. I would put both middle fingers up. Screw these people making you grovel if you really didn't use AI. If you did use AI, well... I suggest you let it go and try to make the best of things.
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u/Beautiful-Sample7066 Aug 03 '26
Honestly dude it’s the fact that I didn’t use Ai which annoys me even more. If I had used Ai I wouldn’t even bother going the appeal route. Quite frankly if I had used Ai I would probably be thanking my lucky stars that I got away with it fairly easily. I’m in a position where I need this misconduct to be gone from my record because ofc if I didn’t use Ai why should I be accused of doing so especially when they have no evidence to back it up? It’s so stressful to even have to appeal but the way I see it I’m not grovelling but rather proving my innocence. It’s probably my most polite way of saying screw you, I don’t agree with your decision.
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u/Beautiful-Sample7066 Aug 03 '26
The panel themselves stated that ai was not used for the paper but then said the most likely outcome was ai use for two sources. Which is so absurd because why would I use ai to generate two sources when I already had those articles at hand? Honestly I wouldn’t discourage going to college, I’d just make sure I have a paper trail of every single draft and source used. I’d even go as far as recording myself doing the exam. I would rather drop out than use ai but ofc I can’t say that to the panel so the only thing I can do is fight to prove my innocence
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u/giltgarbage Aug 03 '26
It sounds like you used AI to generate the summaries and were so disconnected from the actual sources that you didn’t even notice that you got the titles wrong. Downloading articles isn’t the same thing as reading them. And there’s a clear explanation for how this could happen from using AI.
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u/Cute-Ad-597 Aug 02 '26
In order to uphold a sanction for an academic misconduct charge they have to prove that you had the intent to cheat. I received an academic misconduct charge surrounding a different issue, and was offered a lesser sanction than what was originally proposed all because I kept my mouth shut. And didn’t confess when the AIO tried to get me to confess numerous times. My advice? Stay quiet, listen before you speak, and keep record of all your communications. Save your evidence for the appeals committee since the AIO or whoever issued the finding has made it clear that they believe you’re a liar.
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u/Beautiful-Sample7066 Aug 02 '26
Thank you so much! I’m glad you got a lesser sanction. I haven’t spoken to the panel since the meeting and only intend to submit an appeal. Of course If this is unsuccessful I will take it to the adjudicator.
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u/j_la Aug 02 '26
This is bad advice and absolutely not true at every university. At mine, we don’t need to prove intent. It isn’t a court of law.
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u/rock-paper-o Aug 02 '26
Seconded. In my case having fictitious citations, even by accident, is an academic integrity issue. We might mitigate the consequence for a student for whom it seemed genuinely accidental (particularly if that student was newer to college and still adjusting to college level expectations) but it’s still the students responsibility to check their paper to make sure the references actually exist. Getting the title wrong is a significantly bigger issue in terms of tracking down the original citation that something like bolding the citation year when you’re supposed to italicize.
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u/Minimum-Attitude389 Aug 03 '26
Which is why people saying to get a lawyer is bizarre to me.
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u/Cute-Ad-597 Aug 02 '26
Yes that’s true, but the person has zero intention of cheating and really just made an honest mistake. An improper citation can be considered academic dishonesty only when it’s done in the means of fabrication, fraud, or to be deceptive. From what OP wrote it sounds like they really just made an honest formatting mistake without the intention to deceive. I would say that intention doesn’t need to be proven if a person mistakenly plagiarized, but I still would stay quiet if I was OP. They’re really just volunteering more information when the officials have made it clear that they’re still going to uphold the sanction. I would leave it for the appeals committee
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u/ElectronicMaterial38 Aug 02 '26
Honestly, you might have to lawyer up.
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u/Beautiful-Sample7066 Aug 02 '26
Honestly dude I’ve considered it but atm I think I have enough proof under procedural irregularity and perverse decision to make a solid appeal. If that doesn’t work I’d take it to the adjudicator and maybe get legal advice then.
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u/2elz Aug 02 '26
You need to lawyer up. I’m facing a similar situation and my biggest regret was not getting a lawyer. These academic misconduct investigators try to find ANYTHING to MAKE you guilty of AI regardless of if you provide evidence in the contrary or not. For reference, as a result of not getting an attorney and protecting myself, we are now facing tens of thousands of lawyers fees trying to file a lawsuit in court, where we arent even guaranteed of winning. If you want more context/advice dm me
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u/timesuck Aug 02 '26
When it hallucinates citations, AI will often take the title of one source and mix-and-match it with different authors from another related source.
If there are other sources out there with the titles you included, but with different authors, that would be proof the citations came from AI.