DeVolder Carol L wrote: > Here is the sentence from the paper: > When hearing loss exists, the main cause is damage or complete destruction > of sensory hair cells. > > > Here is the sentence from the article: > The principle cause of hearing loss is damage to or complete destruction > of sensory hair cells. > > It seems to me that the real issue is not how similar the actual wordings are to each other (if you must have a show of hands, then I would vote that this student probably had read this sentence. Whether s/he actually copied it, or its general outline just stuck in his/her head until writing-time came is anyone's guess.) The claim is so basic that there is a fairly limited number of ways of framing it, so it is not beyond the realm of possibility that two people wrote roughly identical characterizations.
The real point of importance, it seems to me, is whether the student cited the source from which s/he got the claim. If this sentence were followed by a reference to this particular paper, I (personally) would probably let it slide (except, perhaps, for a marginal note that it is so similar to the original that it would probably have been best to quote it directly to avoid any appearance of plagiarism). My $.02. Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 [email protected] http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ "Censorship is the strongest drive in human nature; sex is a weak second." - Phil Kerby, former editor of the /Los Angeles Times/ ========================== --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
