Research: A Lesson Learned
Finding out your weak research and resource links, let you down.
Today I was accused of being a plagiarist. I was berated in public and it made me re-read my work through carefully. I went back to the source of my information, the site I had used for research. I had not copied and pasted only used the facts I was given and wrote my own article. If it had been plagiarised work, it would not have been published by Triond.
The person accusing me said they could not find the facts, their problem, not mine. I contacted my source and they apologised, they had given me an old fact sheet but it was given as up to-date news. It was in fact from 2006 and I am sure that condoms in India,, now fit the gentlemen quite nicely.
After much thought, despite having a lot of positive feedback, I decided not the feed the fire and to remove the article. I noticed within two hours a person with a very similar name to the commenter with their libellous remark, had added a link (the one used above) on Redditt.
I have been researching and writing for many years and this was the first time I was let down by my source.
The lesson I learned was:
A) Look further than just the ground you are used to. Get back up resources.
B) Never forget to quote your source if needed.
C) Think about the article you are going to write, is it so sensitive to some that it can backfire at you?
As a commenter please remember:
When making libellous remarks in comments boxes this leaves the commenter open to litigation. They can be traced via their ISP if you need to follow that path.
Source: Glynis Smy
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Tags: India, Internet service provider, Plagiarism, research, Writing
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December 29th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Ah yes, research is important. It’s important to do it – and to do it correctly. My tip would be to never rely on a single source, but to double check all facts.
December 29th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Nice post…
December 29th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
I agree with you where factual articles are concerned. Triond does not require you to give your sources or to verify information. (Anybody who reads HealthMad will notice that! )
However, no commenter has the right to berate you in public and demand that you prove and justify what you have written. The sheer audacity of people like that annoys me!!!
December 29th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I second Louie’s comment fully
December 29th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I am sorry you had to go through that, Glynis. It has put me off writing articles.
Christine
December 29th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
My first couple of articles, I simply gathered the information needed and wrote away, however, my articles were, indeed, without links to verify the information of my facts. On one article, I, also, was rudely challenged in my comment box about my information, and I had only chosen one source of information. Now, to avoid the hassle, I check a few sources and provide links to verify my facts.
But I agree, that commenters do not need to be so discourteous if they aren’t sure, or disagree with your information.
December 29th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Courteous private messages are nice–especially when a sincere query for verification.
December 29th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Good Article.
December 29th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
I understand what you mean and I believe you have not plagiarized anything. There was a guy here who read my article and wrote a comment on it. He made his own article that’s very similar to mine by taking the pic I have on my article even the exact words I wrote and you know it passed triond and was published. I really can’t believe it but reported him and Triond removed his work or should I say that it was mine since he took it from my article.
December 29th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Someone wrote an article with the exact title of one of mine so when my title was clicked it went to their article. I just deleted mine to avoid a hassle. It wasn’t that important to me but it does give you a shock when it happens.
December 29th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
I read your article and it was very interesting, a subject that we should all be a little more open about. I don’t think it really mattered too much that the data was 3 years old. Some people have no manners and nothing better to do with their lives than to moan and criticise – maybe your article touched a nerve!
December 29th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
thats a bad thing happened even i have learned from u thnx for sharing
December 30th, 2009 at 12:19 am
Research oversights are simple mistakes, but personal attacks are not mistakes. Ignore the negative people and keep writing.
December 30th, 2009 at 2:01 am
One thing I’m just learning, after two months on Triond, is to search Triond to see if someone has already covered what you want to write about. And you know what, 2 out of 3 times they have! I too have been guilty of writing a similar article to that someone else wrote a few moths earlier, but it was in ignorance. So now, I’m mostly, but not always, sticking to my earlier article about writing from the heart. Thanks for the powerful warning here.
December 30th, 2009 at 2:08 am
Thanks for sharing this info. =)
December 30th, 2009 at 2:18 am
Thanks for your comments…Frances I think I did LOL
December 30th, 2009 at 4:02 am
I think the article was still good n informative.u should not have deleted it all together u could have updated it.i agree with all the above comments.pls keep writing your work is good am fully with u on this madam (i have a habit of seeing the lighter side of any problem thus make funny comments i guess i too have learnt a lesson here of being little more considerate about other peoples work.thxs to u ) metro..
December 30th, 2009 at 6:02 am
It’s especially irritating when people leave long rants in your comment box making many accusations but prefer to do so anonymously. Someone skulking behind the name YerMa did it to me the other day and there is no way of replying via a direct message and they are unlikely to return to your post to check a reply you might put there … is this turning into a long rant???
December 30th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Metro thanks and Rask you can rant here any day you like!
December 30th, 2009 at 9:34 am
So sorry to hear about your flight. Don’t you worry friend, time comes that you will be vindicated. Let Him do the job.. Also, you have shared very important info, we could use..
December 30th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Im sure you’re not a plagiarist. Plagiarism is the act of “stealing” ideas from a written text, without giving rightful credit to the author. But this definition has dwindled down in the Internet Age, where there are boatloads of information, and people transmit messages VERY fast. Writing about something that you’ve seen online is NOT plagiarism.
If I see an article on Yahoo news today and decide to write about it, that’s not plagiarism..although there will be some identical facts and similar information between the source text of the research and the output article.
In short, you didn’t do anything wrong. Great article!
December 30th, 2009 at 11:15 am
I have had one reader totally rip my article to shreds! in the article when any facts or opinions were used I made sure I always said “In my opinion” or “According to” to cover myself, but it didn’t work the more I defended my article other people just joined the band-wagon and ripped into my work more so I learnt the hard way igorne the negative criticisms and say thanks for the positive one! nice write. LB
December 30th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
One time somebody asked me for my source, and it was impossible to give, because my source was my own life and knowledge – not everything has an Internet source, after all some things ARE the sources other things later use.
December 30th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
I agree with B. Nelson. That is why I like to write what are more essays. I am not an expert in any field but I know how my mind works and no one who is not me can say I\’m wrong.
December 31st, 2009 at 3:23 am
Thank you for your support and positive comments.
December 31st, 2009 at 7:39 am
a very interesting one..informative too…happy new year Glynis!!!!
December 31st, 2009 at 11:43 am
there’s really no place for this kind of public accusation, fully support you!
December 31st, 2009 at 12:02 pm
There is a lot of ugliness behind the scenes at Triondland. Glynis, ignore the idiots.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:06 am
You made the right step and removed that article. And ignore that stupid idiots commenter.
January 1st, 2010 at 7:00 am
Ignore those idiots….Enjoy the coming year..
January 1st, 2010 at 10:20 am
Thanks and Happy New Year!
January 2nd, 2010 at 7:24 am
No wonder I could not read that article. I had seen that link and clicked on it, but is showed up with no content. I thought may be you had pulled it down to re-work on it. But then I never saw it again. I am so sorry that you were put through this. How awful. You are really nice to share this with us. God bles you Glynis!
January 2nd, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Thank You PhoenixRox
January 5th, 2010 at 11:41 am
Sorry you are going through this. One of the Christmas articles I wrote had a link that I clicked on. It was the same topic as mine but only written later, it looked as if they used my article for their research. I let it go as mine was much better written and I had proofread mine. Theirs was a mess of errors. That is sometimes the problem with non-fiction, the work is only as good as the research. I like you try to find many different research pieces to draw from. As for the nasty comment, I think there is never a need for it and the person writing it needs a life.
Take care, Pam
January 5th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Commenting should be done with grace and most respect for the writer. When I was a kid I watched an episode of Kun Fu and these words stuck with me till today: “When words are not better than silence it is best not to pronounce them.”
(or write them). I try to follow that rule, when commenting on peoples work. Sorry you had to go thru that sour episode.
January 5th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Thank you all for your support
January 6th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
:0 I haven’t had this happen to me yet – how humiliating, especially when you know yourself that it is your own work. I guess this individual has nothing better to do with their time Glynis>:!!
January 9th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
This is the reason I seldom publish real articles. I find very hard to find some real sources. I am also afraid to be accused of a copy paster
Good post, Glynis…. Now, I don’t know if I can post health articles anymore lol
January 16th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
what else should I say… with proper research, there is lesser chance you could go stray… interesting…
January 23rd, 2010 at 5:47 am
A really sad thing to happen, research is very important and is a necessity. Some people as you say take personal offence, I had the same thing happen to me on an article called “Does size matter” I had kept it relaxed and funny but some bloke said I didn’t know what I was talking about.
February 26th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Thanks for sharing Glynis. You are such a nice Triond friend…I am sorry that happened to you!
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:49 am
Thanks for comments and support!