On 10 May 2009 at 14:17, DeVolder Carol L wrote:

> OK, I need a quick show of hands--plagiarism or not? 
> 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. 

Choose me, teacher:
By itself, not worth worrying about. Perhaps you might circle it with a 
warning "too close to original" comment.  But if there are repeated 
instances of this kind of copying throughout the paper, sterner action 
might be required, such as loss of marks or amputation of a finger. Save 
the dreaded p-word for cases where a majority of sentences are so 
afflicted, or where whole paragraphs are lifted, especially when 
attribution to a source is absent as well.
In other words, don't sweat the small stuff---save it for major offences 
where there can be no doubt. 

Stephen

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Stephen L. Black, Ph.D.          
Professor of Psychology, Emeritus   
Bishop's University      e-mail:  [email protected]
2600 College St.
Sherbrooke QC  J1M 1Z7
Canada

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