Student Handbook - The School of Language, Linguistics and Film

A coversheet is not needed for required coursework.
Late submission will be penalised unless you have obtained permission for an extension to
the deadline. Extensions must be requested before the deadline. Permission for an
extension for assessed coursework can be granted ONLY by the relevant Senior Tutor (see
Extensions to assessed coursework deadlines under § 4.2 EXTENUATING
CIRCUMSTANCES).
If ever you have to submit coursework by post, you must send it by Special Delivery, to
arrive by the deadline, and retain the proof of postage. No work will be accepted by fax or by
e-mail. This is because work submitted in these ways is often illegible.
Plagiarism
The Queen Mary Regulations on Assessment Offences state that plagiarism is ‘presenting
someone else’s work as one’s own irrespective of intention. Close paraphrasing, copying
from the work of another person, including another student, using the ideas of another
person, without proper acknowledgement or repeating work you have previously submitted
without properly referencing yourself (known as ‘self plagiarism’) also constitute plagiarism.’
Plagiarism includes submitting the work of someone else as your own, with or without their
knowledge or consent; using Essay Mills or ghost writing (getting someone else to write your
coursework for you); and extensive copying from someone else’s work without proper
referencing. Copying from the internet without acknowledging the source is also plagiarism.
You may use brief quotes from the published or unpublished work of other persons, but you
must always show that they are quotations by putting them inside quotation marks, giving
the source and listing the work in the bibliography (see Writing essays under § 2.2 THE
LEARNING EXPERIENCE). It is also plagiarism to summarise another person’s ideas or
judgements without reference to the source.
Plagiarism is not only unethical and poor academic practice, but when discovered will result
in very serious consequences for you. It is very easy to spot plagiarised work, and you
should be aware that as well as relying on our own expertise, we also make use of antiplagiarism
software. At the very least, discovery will lead to a mark of zero for the piece of
work involved. It may lead to a mark of zero for the whole module, or to a more severe
penalty, such as the invalidation of all examinations taken that year. Avoid it at all costs.
The best way to avoid the risk of plagiarism is first of all to make sure that when you take
notes you write down full details of the source (author’s name, title of book or article, website
address, notes you have made during lectures). You then list these in your essay, as
references for particular points and as entries in the bibliography. Take care if you are
cutting and pasting information between two documents, and ensure that references are not
lost in the process. Be particularly careful with quotations and paraphrasing, and be sensible
in referencing ideas – commonly held views that are generally accepted do not always
require acknowledgment to particular sources. However, it is best to be safe to avoid
plagiarism.
To copy an author’s words without indicating that you are quoting is the most blatant form of
plagiarism. But even to put someone else’s ideas into your own words, with or without
indicating where the ideas come from, can count as plagiarism. You should use other
people’s ideas to develop your own views. This means that you will think actively about what
you are doing, and not simply amass material in an uncritical, passive way. It will help you
constantly to analyse what you are reading, deciding what material is most important for
your essay and your argument.
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