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Powerman101  
#1 Posted : 17 February 2021 09:06:59(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Powerman101

Hi there

I am in the process of doing the IPD Open Assessment Part B exam and I'm wondering what would be an acceptable way to reference case law? My plagiarism scanner has been going crazy over it as well as flagging up health and safety regulations and legal terminology. Does anyone know how strict the examiners are regarding this sort of thing?

A Kurdziel  
#2 Posted : 17 February 2021 09:48:58(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
A Kurdziel

Plagiarism means different things in different subjects. If you are doing a creative writing  course and just copy chunks of someone else work and pass it off as your own, then that is clearly plagiarism. 

In H&S we are less interested in original ideas and more interested  in  demonstrating what you know and that you can apply it in real life scenarios. Inevitably  you will end up quoting the law, guidance and perhaps, academic papers. As long as you make it clear what your sources are then this should not be an issue. The concern is more to do with either collusion or simply copying some else work. See https://www.nebosh.org.uk/open-book-examinations/plagiarism-and-collusion/ for how NEBOSH deals with this. There are loads of guides often from Universities describing how to do references to other people’s work.

Edited by user 17 February 2021 13:14:50(UTC)  | Reason: missing word

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Powerman101 on 17/02/2021(UTC)
peter gotch  
#3 Posted : 17 February 2021 10:26:27(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
peter gotch

Hi Powerman

To add to AK's sound advice:

If you are referencing case law, it is almost inevitable that you will have to quote from it to explain your understanding of the judgment(s).

So, I suppose over the last 25 years there was been one case I have referenced more than any other (more often even than the case law on "reasonably practicable" or its more stringent cousin).

It talks about work that is "ancillary to, but necessary for". It would be impossible to adequately explain the relevance of the judgment without quoting those five words. Then the art is to explain the importance of those five words in the context of why you are referring to the case law.

So quoting from the case law and showing that you are quoting by using quotation marks is NOT plagiarism, whatever your program may think!

A gold star if you can identify the case law that I referenced and explain its relevance in the current legislative climate [though this riddle is perhaps much more easy than it may sound] !!!

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A Kurdziel on 17/02/2021(UTC), Powerman101 on 17/02/2021(UTC)
earlrobinson  
#4 Posted : 17 February 2021 13:36:25(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
earlrobinson

Hey, maybe try to paraphrase them instead of quoting? It always works in my case.

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Powerman101 on 17/02/2021(UTC)
A Kurdziel  
#5 Posted : 17 February 2021 16:35:29(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
A Kurdziel

Quoting is not plagiarism, which seems to be an issue  with some of this software that people use. Passing off your work as somebody else’s is. Do not paraphrase legalisation: the exact interpretation of  the law  depends on reading it as it is written. Do not paraphrase judgements-again the legal meaning is in what  has been written down by the judge.  You can summarise but you have to make it clear, that is what you are doing.    

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Powerman101 on 17/02/2021(UTC)
Powerman101  
#6 Posted : 17 February 2021 20:07:42(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Powerman101

I've had to paraphrase the case descriptions and made sure that the cases were referenced correctly. I've avoided directly quoting judgments in case it flagged up. I did however quote acts and regulations. I have however taken Peter Gotch's advice to use quotation marks for certain words. Although I quote certain sentences every day but it's a different story when you have to write a concise account that'll be scrutinised by examiners. 

A Kurdziel  
#7 Posted : 18 February 2021 09:46:36(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
A Kurdziel

This might sound like a stupid question but why are you even running a plagiarism scanner over your work? You are not intending to plagiarise anything and you have no idea what, if any, system the examiners are using.

thanks 1 user thanked A Kurdziel for this useful post.
Wailes900134 on 18/02/2021(UTC)
biker1  
#8 Posted : 18 February 2021 10:51:00(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
biker1

The general rule is that it is ok to quote things, as long as it is clearly indicated as a quote, and a reference is supplied, and the amount of quoted material is small compared to the word count of your answer (otherwise it's not your answer is it?).

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