NationStates Jolt Archive

This just came to me: I doubt tutors check the existence of every book used in a university assignment, especially considering the amount of assignments they have to check, so do you reckon I could get away with making a few up?

Supposing I'm answering the question: "How does the media justify the way in which it represents race and are those representations fair?" or something like that, how about this book: "Media Races: A Look at Race in Television" George Collins ?

I aint actually gonna do this btw... at least I don't think I'm gonna do it hehe

If you do the entire paper on it they will check. If you use it as a refrence for a point that doesn't really stand out then they probably won't.

This just came to me: I doubt tutors check the existence of every book used in a university assignment, especially considering the amount of assignments they have to check, so do you reckon I could get away with making a few up?

Supposing I'm answering the question: "How does the media justify the way in which it represents race and are those representations fair?" or something like that, how about this book: "Media Races: A Look at Race in Television" George Collins ?

I aint actually gonna do this btw... at least I don't think I'm gonna do it hehe

www.amazon.co.uk

www.abebooks.com

www.jstor.com

Various Academic Databases

Seriously, try that at any level after junior school and, odds are, you'll be found out. Try it at university, and you're out.

At my university you have to submit all assignments on paper and electronically. The electronic version is fed through this all-powerful program they have to double check everything you have written against every publication the program has on record (which includes all of the library and a good chunk of the internet).

It's primarily designed to spot plagiarism, but I'm sure they'll pick it out that you keep referencing a book that doesn't exist.

Making up a book is iffy, making up content, you can probably get away with. The book may end up getting checked, especially if it seems suspicious but no one will ever read the books found in reports because there will simply be too many.


It's primarily designed to spot plagiarism, but I'm sure they'll pick it out that you keep referencing a book that doesn't exist.
It will simply by the fact that the cite won't show up as "plagiarized." At that point it becomes suspicious because you (a) cited it unbelievably wrong (b) are the only person ever in the history of the world to cite that book or (c) made it up. The first two are pretty much below 10% chance of happening.

A friend of mine put a made-up book in the bibliography of his masters thesis, using the names of his two best buddies as authors.

Nobody ever noticed (and even if, it would still just have been a joke, nothing bad would have come of it) mainly because his bibliography was about 10 pages long.

Nope, but I once did write an exam about a book I didn't read. Passed with an A, too. :D

Nope, but I once did write an exam about a book I didn't read. Passed with an A, too. :D

I've done that. *looks at dusty unread copy of Wurthering Heights*

Nope, but I once did write an exam about a book I didn't read. Passed with an A, too. :D

Been there, done that.

I've done that. *looks at dusty unread copy of Wurthering Heights*

Wuthering Heights was downright exciting to the book in question here... "Ansichten eines Clowns", by Heinrich Boell

*shivers*

Wuthering Heights was downright exciting to the book in question here... "Ansichten eines Clowns", by Heinrich Boell

*shivers*
We had that back in school. It wasn't that bad, though, was it? *can't remember a thing*

We had that back in school. It wasn't that bad, though, was it? *can't remember a thing*

The summary alone was enough to put you in a coma.

Once I made up a species of tree frog for an assignment. I just altered the hue of an existing tree frog in Photoshop, and cited some false texts from 1973.

Apparently, it worked.

Never done it. Academic misconduct is high heresy in my book.

Once I made up a species of tree frog for an assignment. I just altered the hue of an existing tree frog in Photoshop, and cited some false texts from 1973.

Apparently, it worked.

What did you name it? Amazonian High-bred Tree Frog sound real enough?

No, but I have made up the contents of real books I didn't want to read.

I've made up content for school before.

No one noticed.

It's plagiarism that gets noticed.

Making up Supreme Court cases for AP tests is more likely to be overlooked.

Snuggles v. Arizona, baby. But really, give it an important sounding name and who'd know? Teachers only spend several minutes on each essay.

The summary alone was enough to put you in a coma.
Never read it; however, we had to read Sense & Sensibility (in 8th grade). I don't know how Wuthering Heights compares but I glazed over after 15 pages and by the middle of the book I was literally ready to carve out my eyes with spoons (I distinctly remember that feeling, it was that bad).

I've added books to the bibliography that I've never picked up, let alone read, but making up a book sounds stupid. Far too easy to get caught out. Your tutor's marked hundreds of similar essays, and if they see you reference a book they have never even heard of... well my tutors would go and look it up, not to catch you out but just through curiosity, see if they should add it to the reading list or whatever.

I aint actually gonna do this btw... at least I don't think I'm gonna do it hehe

Your assignment, your paper, and your grade. Do whatever clicks your clock and good luck.

Never read it; however, we had to read Sense & Sensibility (in 8th grade). I don't know how Wuthering Heights compares but I glazed over after 15 pages and by the middle of the book I was literally ready to carve out my eyes with spoons (I distinctly remember that feeling, it was that bad).

Does telling you that I actually rather enjoyed Sense and Sensibility put things in perspective? ;)

Absolutely. Vorsprung Durch Nudeln was a classic piece of 50's German horror writing, and I did a character study of Hans Freibad, the lead protagonist.

Got a pretty good mark for it, but then did a proper one of Iago from Othello and got an even better mark - which was quite useful, to be honest.

The summary alone was enough to put you in a coma.

Hmmm...only read one book like that. If you've ever read A Separate Peace then you know what I mean. If you haven't...don't. If you ever read it by choice, you're insane. Seriously. That book was the most dreadful piece of filth I've ever read. Why every copy ever made hasn't been buried in a desert in New Mexico is absolutely beyond my comprehension. And I wasn't the only one at my school who felt that way. I knew of no one who liked it. Usually, there's one person who likes even the worst stories. Not this. Even typing about it makes me want to grab the fork that's sitting in front of me and stab myself with it.

I've done that. *looks at dusty unread copy of Wurthering Heights*

Me, too. *shoots dirty look at Hamlet* And know what? I got full marks on the exam, with the comment being "Außerplanetarisch gut!", which roughly translates to, uh, extraterrestrially (sp?) good?

Wuthering Heights was downright exciting to the book in question here... "Ansichten eines Clowns", by Heinrich Boell

*shivers*
I *love* that book. Read it thrice so far, and not once for school/uni/other mandatory reason.

ETA: @Yootopia: Vorsprung Durch Nudeln? *dies laughing at that title*

If one is having difficulty with an assignment, one should proceed directly to the professor's office hours to ask for assistance. There might be a late penalty of some sort involved, but that is better than the guaranteed F that acting like a seventh grader will earn. Nevermind the possibility of dismissal from the university entirely for such blatant academic dishonesty. Personally, I think such behavior merits a hanging for contributing to the tarnishing of the reputation of academia, and thus contributing to the tarnishing of my academic performance by association.

I would prefer that my "A" actually mean something. Such behavior at least should warrant expulsion (the social stigma destroying any chance of entry into another institution above "Burger Flipper U."), if it doesn't already.

What's the point, except for humour? If it essential to your argument someone is going to notice, "wow, someone wrote a book explaining Guy Fawkes Masonic involvement that deeply, I gotta read that one" or "Collins, how come he isn't on my syllabus, what does my advisor have against him, I gots to check him out" If it is not essential to your argument, why not just use the books available. Mis-citing likewise is pretty easy for minor points, but fails for major points or well known sources, "I know Liberman did not say that, I was just reviewing him for Monday's lecture" or "no one with half an once of knowledge of Roman history could so completetly ignore the Culture Wars' role in the end of the Republic and consider Lex Gabinia unprecedented".

Wait, I take it all back, just realized a historian has written a well reviewed book recently about which any historian should be making the last statement. Hmm, never have made up a book, but it may be perfectly viable, i'll just have to reconsider my previous shortsightedness.

Considering that all the person grading your work has to do is feed the bogus title into Google to catch you up, I'd say the plan has serious flaws.
On the other hand, a very desperate Fiddlebottoms has been known to use two or three word sentence fragments to completely misrepresent the views of certain authors in order to back-up thesises that he didn't realize were terrible until 5 hours before the essay was due.

Hmmm...only read one book like that. If you've ever read A Separate Peace then you know what I mean. If you haven't...don't. If you ever read it by choice, you're insane. Seriously. That book was the most dreadful piece of filth I've ever read. Why every copy ever made hasn't been buried in a desert in New Mexico is absolutely beyond my comprehension. And I wasn't the only one at my school who felt that way. I knew of no one who liked it. Usually, there's one person who likes even the worst stories. Not this. Even typing about it makes me want to grab the fork that's sitting in front of me and stab myself with it.

Ugh. Fair enough, reading one bad book for school, but we read A Separate Peace, Catcher in the Rye and Inventing Elliot, which is essentially "what if all the people in 1984 were kids?" Edit: But done extremely suckily.

Lets look at it this way:

Your professor is a doctor in his or her given field. This means they have been exposed to a significant ammount of the written works during their education to become a doctor. Additionally, they are expected to continue to produce current and relevent academic works. This means that they must keep current with recent trends in the field.

They know the majority of works. They know the influential names in their fields. They know who holds what theories.

If you put in a name you don't know, or a theory that doesn't line up with the names other theories, they'll notice. And they will check. That is called "academic misconduct", and, atleast around here, is grounds for expulsion from the university.

If one is having difficulty with an assignment, one should proceed directly to the professor's office hours to ask for assistance. There might be a late penalty of some sort involved, but that is better than the guaranteed F that acting like a seventh grader will earn. Nevermind the possibility of dismissal from the university entirely for such blatant academic dishonesty. Personally, I think such behavior merits a hanging for contributing to the tarnishing of the reputation of academia, and thus contributing to the tarnishing of my academic performance by association.

I would prefer that my "A" actually mean something. Such behavior at least should warrant expulsion (the social stigma destroying any chance of entry into another institution above "Burger Flipper U."), if it doesn't already.

I can guarantee you I will never, ever have to write a report on anything I ever study in English or History and thus academic dishonesty is a pox on no one.

Hey all this talk of books reminds me - there's a great new book coming out soon. It's a horror story about a woman who is the target of an evil spirit and who joins Christianity - but there's a twist that you'll almost certainly never guess. It comes out by I think February next year at the latest and will be available from http://www.lulu.com

O.K. So it's my book but it'll be good :)