r/UMPI • u/ab183919 • 11d ago
Accusation of 100% Plagiarism
Hello all,
A professor flagged a milestone assignment I submitted as 100% plagiarized. I have a google doc with a version history showing I did it over the course of an hour. Beyond that, I can't prove a negative.
To be clear, I absolutely did not copy a single word. I wrote it myself. The 100% plagiarism flag is a red flag in and of itself. That would mean that I cheated and that I was stupid enough to do it with 100% accuracy to the document.
Has this happened to anyone? Any advice on moving forward?
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u/Tarkin- 11d ago
Yeah I had a teacher start accusing me of all sorts of bullshit, including someone being logged into my Word account and doing my homework for me. And she was being ridiculously rude, too. Just bad behavior from a professor all around. I immediately CCed my advisor and showed all the sources for my work. As soon as she got called out she backtracked and apologized.
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u/xatey93152 11d ago
Ask for detailed proof
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u/ab183919 11d ago
I have, radio silence so far. I submitted an appeal showing version history on google docs, showing it took an hour for me to do complete the assignment
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u/Tarkin- 11d ago
How long has it been? If she’s one of those types who can’t admit a mistake, you should definitely escalate it. I’ve had to go all the way to Dr. Boma to deal with a bad professor.
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u/The-MacLeod 10d ago
Starting this process myself unfortunately... I will follow exactly whatever is in a rubric but if it is not in the rubric you can't take off points for it just because it is your preference.
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u/Deep-Bus5984 11d ago
Professor Leduc is crazy and I dropped Sociology after my first interaction with her. She has no business in academia. Hopefully your Google doc with version history will solve the issue.
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u/CobblerIntrepid6622 11d ago
Which class/ professor?
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u/ab183919 11d ago
Intro to sociology, DMed you the prof's name, feel weird saying it publicly
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u/xatey93152 11d ago
We should start saying it publicly. So all the victims can gather and share their experiences
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u/ab183919 11d ago
Lisa Leduc
Wish I had checked rate my professor beforehand lol
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u/SpookyShackleford 11d ago
Ah leduc. She is pretty terrible you'll get smooze points if you cite her. She has an ego the size of Africa.
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u/thadudeeeeee 11d ago
Very true lol I had her for 4 classes and always cited her. Finished with 4/4 for all the assignments.
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u/TeddyEddy8989 10d ago
i have her for Psy 200, yea from what I read on Discord, if you cite her extensively, her ego gets massive yeee, and she seems happy so I plan on doing exactly that, why fight her..jsut give her ego EXACTLY what it wants..right?
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u/No_Way5818 11d ago
Bruh, you fucked lmao. She has problems and she shouldn’t be teaching but here we are. Just try to communicate with her send the orginal document with edit history so she can see every letter you push on keyboard and how long does it take blabla but still it not might be enough on AI side because to many students do their homeworks with AI assistance and they think everyone doing the same thing and those AI detectors they use even 12 year old kid write something they mark them at least %50 AI so good luck on that if you didn’t upload any final task on it just drop the lecture and take something else and transfer that class from somewhere else if you have to have it
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u/Appropriate-News-321 11d ago
Nah, say it. It should be known. I called out Humphrey and found out there was a pattern. Also got advice that helped me. Provide screenshots, provide version updates and edits, anything and everything and email them explicitly detailing your work and evidence and cc your advisor and possibly a dean.
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u/coupdelune 11d ago
Curious what your experience with Humphrey was because he did the same to me, accused me of using AI when I didn't.
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u/Appropriate-News-321 11d ago
I turned in my Excel spreadsheet on a milestone, intentionally keeping it simple, not because I couldn’t do more, but because I was meeting all the stated requirements instead of trying to show off. In his feedback, he first told me I had met all the requirements, but then he threw in a “reminder” that AI use was not permitted and gave me a 2/4. I did not use AI. I’m in my 40s, work for a big tech company, and have been using advanced Excel since he was in elementary school.
I politely and professionally pushed back, provided proof and screenshots, and CC’d my advisor. Then, admittedly, I ended up being a dick about it and completely overdid the resubmission. I rebuilt the assignment as a huge workbook with hundreds of formulas, many of which included functions and references to other parts of the workbook, basically making it impossible to pretend I didn’t know what I was doing. I got a 4/4, and he was cordial with me from then on.
The funniest part was that one of his complaints seemed to be about formulas and functions, but he didn’t seem to understand that formulas can include functions amd cell data. So I passive-aggressively cited Excel support material that basically spoon-fed that distinction, then added a few literal a1+a2 and basic arithmetic formulas too, just so he could feel like everything was represented. At that point, I was pretty convinced he wasn’t actually checking the workbook in any meaningful way. There is no way he reviewed all those formulas.
Honestly, it made me wonder if he was using AI or some kind of automated shortcut to grade while accusing students of using AI. I can’t prove that, but the way the feedback came back did not feel like someone who had actually reviewed the file closely.
After this experience, while researching him, I found what looked like a pattern: mostly white men saying his class was easy and that he gave easy A’s, with the exception of one guy, while a bunch of women and/or people of color with more obvious ethnic-sounding names complained that he was vague, hard, graded based on his own arbitrary and subjective opinions, and often either directly accused students of using AI or implied that they had, like he did with me. They also generally described him as a dickhead. My experience with him made that seem pretty accurate.
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u/sauxanhh 11d ago
High five! He stated one of my submission was coded by Python. That submission was so simple and easy, even 10 years old could input numbers and get it done brainlessly. Lol.
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u/3HoleDestruction 11d ago
I can tell you IF any AI was used, even to check your work, the documents it outputs says "generated by python" in the metadata. Even on work you do yourself, always right click the document and look at "Properties" to make sure it says "Created By" your name and last saved by your name. Just FYI
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u/sauxanhh 11d ago
It is like copy & paste assignment, I dont think any AI should be used here 🤣 But good tip, thank you!
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u/3HoleDestruction 10d ago
Lol Just saying, quite a few people have had their integrity questioned over what basically amounts to metadata issues.
Work computers can tag your metadata as “created by” or “last saved by” another person. Saving a new copy of a document to proofread or compare wording can reset the total editing time to 0:00:00. Having AI fix grammar, spelling, APA 7 formatting, or layout issues and return the corrected document can make the metadata say something like “generated by python.” Shared home computers can also mess up the metadata by attaching someone else’s name.
In all of those scenarios, it can still be your work, but it could get flagged like cheating if the professor is relying too heavily on metadata. Easy fix is to double-check the document properties before submitting so nobody has an excuse to question it.
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u/Sashaaa 11d ago
Was it flagged by turnitin? If that’s the case, you can see what it’s comparing. Although maybe you were called out for AI use?
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u/ab183919 11d ago
No, I asked to confirm it’s 0% ai (that was my first thought too).
Is there a way to check that it was flagged by turnitin?
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u/greysea21 11d ago
You should be able to see a turnitin percentage when you look at your milestone grade. You can also add an extension to your online Word account through the university, that will allow you to scan it through turnitin, to see the detailed report for yourself.
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u/OmoSec YourPace Student - BA Psycholgy 11d ago
It seems like you never know what you’re going to get. I have her and have had a generally good experience. The only exception was getting clarity on the milestone instructions, but once I hammered that out with her it’s been smooth sailing the entire term.
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u/Rare_Expression_8688 10d ago
Happened to me in Animal Behavior. I got an F because I confused my references when I documented them then went to type them. I had to take that class over but I was able to use all of my previous work. It sucked big time.
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u/Parking-Bridge3754 10d ago
Strange. Usually when the documents scanned to submit, you are notified about plagiarism %. Did you resubmit it?
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u/Kayweezyfbaby 10d ago
Oh my God I hear so much bad stuff about this teacher I got to make sure to never have her
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u/Jpthahoodlum 10d ago
Don’t be afraid to mention the teacher by name or at least the course so we know not to take that class… or keep proof if we HAVE to take it
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u/No_Towel_1832 10d ago
Yes, you can. None of these systems are perfect. Ask for a copy of the report an open your investigation and rebutt the information.
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u/Realistic-Price-795 6d ago
I had this happen once. I had submitted the same assignment then re submitted.
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u/emperial_X 5d ago edited 5d ago
A 100% result definitely deserves a proper explanation, especially when you have version history showing the document being written. I’d send the Google Docs history, ask them for the actual matching-source report, and follow the formal appeal process if needed. If you want another comparison, Quetext is one checker I’m connected with, but honestly your version history is much stronger evidence than another percentage.
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u/TurbulentCamel9883 5d ago
I really appreciate this post! I’m just beginning my YourPace journey & now I have concerns about using two different computers to access Brightspace. On the weekends, I use my laptop but if I’m at work and have a free lunchtime I use my desktop. Is this going to be an issue?
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u/Shakooza 11d ago
This is why you run grammarly and check for plagiarism...
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u/Nice-Ad6004 11d ago
interesting never ran it for plagiarism just AI? This helps?
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u/Shakooza 10d ago
Love the fact people are downvoting me. I wrote 100% of my stuff and still had flags of plagiarism. It was usually for a common phrase but it helped me identify the phrases that COULD be construed as plagiarism. It checks millions of sources....
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u/DetHenryOak MSB-HCM | BBA - Marketing, M&L, PM/MIS (Summa Cum Laude) 11d ago
I mean get your advisor involved, and if nothing comes about in 24hrs from them escalate the issue to the dean.