Copying a sample IA's format. Is it allowed?

[ChocolateDrop]

Hiya ,

I'm improving my internal assesment and I found a sample IA which could help me. I was wondering if I copied the exact same format of the Ia, i.e erased all what the candidate wrote and put what I wrote in the same positions and tables and everything, would this be classed as plagerism?

[maereth]

well, maybe not but there are other things that may make your work worse this way. I mean, if you don't try to organise it yourself, you can understand it less, and therefore explain worse. Also, the mistake someone else may have made (and believe me, if you found it on the internet it's probably useless) might lead you in a wrong direction. You can, however, try to start from the same point as the sample is started if you find it hard to do it yourself.

Edited November 30, 2012 by maereth

[alexwhy]

I would recommend against this because if you are going to "chop" their document and put yours in, I highly doubt that you will feel more organized. It would not be classified as plagiarism if you are not copying their work without giving them credit.

Having said that, if the format of the document is relatively simple to copy then it would be perfectly fine to copy the format (I'm not sure what is so special about the format, but anyway). You could take notes of how the other student did their document.

I have seen many reports that have a very nice layout (http://www.tug.org/texshowcase/pp.pdf , although it isn't a report). It was typeset using the free program called "MiTex". I have used that program for my "Organic Chemistry Notes" as well.

Edited November 30, 2012 by alexwhy

[Jaymi]

As long as you don't use any of the information, diagrams with data, etc..that they used it wouldn't be counted as plagiarism.

Now, if you used their headings, footnotes, table of contents, appendices and the diagrams they have already drawn up CAN be counted as plagiarism as that's not your own work.

REMEMBER: Plagiarism is copying work that isn't yours and pretending that you had done it.

I doubt following a format is plagiarism.

[drserosa]

No, because the purpose of a sample is to guide your own IA. That being said, sample IAs usually either have faulty elements in them/are tailor fit for the type of data collected. I'd recommend using a variety of different sample IAs that are both similar to yours and have scored well, as well as following the IB checklist. Good luck, have fun

[alefal]

My TOK teacher says that you can be accused of plagiarising if you do that with the TOK essay. Now, the TOK essay is quite a chapter for itself, but if the IBO is that strict with TOK, I cannot see why they should be any more lenient in other subjects. Of course, if the structure is very simple (e.g. introduction, body, conclusion), I cannot see how you are going to be accused for plagiarising, but you are going to copy much more than the basic framework. Therefore, to be on the safe side, I would recommend you not to copy the sample directly. Use the ideas, but don't copy it directly.

[Nabz]

Hiya ,

I'm improving my internal assesment and I found a sample IA which could help me. I was wondering if I copied the exact same format of the Ia, i.e erased all what the candidate wrote and put what I wrote in the same positions and tables and everything, would this be classed as plagerism?

You can reference it maybe? talk to your supervisor...

[haydenj96]

Did this for my ITGS project. Like I basically replaced their data with mine. My ITGS teacher ate it up. She loved the thing. I say go for it. Just be careful. Like other posters have said, make sure to change everything you need to. You don't want to misformat a graph or anything like that and risk getting found out. Not that what you're doing is necessarily breaking the rules, but it looks bad. For that reason, I retyped everything. Don't copy/paste and then change things. It'll make you catch yourself.

[bale]

I myself am thinking to do the same thing however im not going to use a previous essay but an essay writen by someone else on internet and has nothing to do with EE

[Ezak]

To the guys above: Risking your diploma (That is exactly what you are doing when not following the intellectual honesty rule of the IBO) is not worth it for the chance to produce a better IA or EE. Suck it up and stop being lazy, maybe you'll even learn something from it.

There should be no issue in copying the format and/or structure of the IA from a sample IA, but you can't use data or ideas without showing that it isn't yours (and even so I would not do this in an IA).

[Da Wong]

if only the format is the same, it's fine. Content should be different, but no one's going to take away your diploma because your tables and graphs are in the same order as one online.

I remember the first IA I took like 3 hours looking for samples online to help me and then took like another 5 hours to do it.

But it just gets easier, especially for the Sciences, where you have like 4 tries. :3