MRes 2014 - 2015

MRes 2014 - 2015

Research Development

Zosia Chrzanowska-LightowlersDeputy DPDDirector of Admissions and Recruitment


Try to make full use of this year

At the end you will need references and ~ Marks come first~ other indicators of responsibility or~ academic involvement

Will help make you stand out from other applicants


Try to make full use of this year

At the end you will need references and ~ Marks come first WORK HARD~ other indicators of responsibility or STUDENT REP / UNI SOCIETIES~ academic involvementHELP IN LABS / Professional Society MEMBERSHIP

Will help make you stand out from other applicants

www.biochemistry.org

Your gateway to the Molecular bioscience network

And SAVE! Attend meetings & events for less

Apply for generous grants & bursaries

FREE subscription to the Biochemist magazine

FREE online access to career information & support

Organise a Young Life Scientist Symposium Join the Biochemical Society

at www.biochemistry.org/join

http://www.genetics.org.uk/

http://www.physoc.org/

www.biochemistry.org

It is up to you to actively participate

MRes 2014 - 2015

Good Academic Practice

Zosia Chrzanowska-LightowlersDeputy DPDDirector of Admissions and Recruitment


Why do we have rules in place ?

Because we want you to do well !!!!!


Many aspects

• General good practiceScientific and academic

• Collusion

• Plagiarism

Much of this is also in your handbookUSE IT, don’t throw it away !!

Attendance:

• Attendance at lectures is COMPULSORY• Registers are taken at each session, make sure you

sign in• Reading blackboard is not the same

• Why?– You are learning from experts, not distance learning– For international students it is a University obligation to the UK

border agency– We NEED to know if you have a problem !!

General good practice

Attendance: Leave of Absence

• Full-time Course• Requires minimum 9am to 5pm (or equivalent)• Requires a minimum of 5 days per week• Absences must be approved (by DPD)

– Ideally prior to absence– In emergencies after absence

• Why?– Progress issue– Can influence marks– Adverse circumstances are taken into account at BoE


Attendance: Sickness

• Must let the Graduate School know• Self certification• Doctor’s certificate• Longer absences

– Obtain supporting documentation to supply with PEC form

• Why?– Progress issue– Can influence marks– Adverse circumstances are taken into account at BoE


Submitting work

• All work is submitted electronically through NESS, hence the time of submission is recorded

General academic good practice

• We know if it is LATE

• Late hand-in of work carries a penalty:– without good cause maximum mark of 50% up to 7 days


Submitting work



– After 7 days if no extension is granted mark of zero (0%) will apply


Submitting work




– If a resubmission and late then receives zero (0%)


Submitting work





– Non submission receives a mark of zero (0%)


Submitting work






– be early, include traffic / computer problems in your plans


Submitting work







Submitting work

– be early, include traffic / computer problems in your plans

– request an extension if required but NOT after deadline.

Remember LATE is BAD

Taking notes

• Go and consolidate your understanding after each lecture

• Don’t wait until the week before exams !

• Remember that for each 1 credit you should be

working for 10 hours




• Read what is on the recommended list

• DO NOT presume this is ALL you need to read


Taking notes



• Read what is on the recommended list

• DO NOT presume this is ALL you need to read• Spend TIME doing literature searches to find reviews/articles that improve your understanding

and broaden your knowledge


Taking notes

• Remember this is a POSTGRADUATE degree

• It is a research degree NOT a taught degree

• Do not expect handouts in your lectures

• You are expected to take responsibility for your learning


Acceptable Sources of Information

• Books• Journals • Lecture notes

• NOT WIKIPEDIA• NOT unreferenced INTERNET publications

• Use References and Parentheses (“”) for ALL sources including illustrations, but with caution.


NOT EVERYTHING THAT IS PUBLISHED IS CORRECT!!

ONLY 15% OF PUBLICATIONS ARE TRUSTWORTHY

• Be critical, you are now a postgraduate !!!!

• Guilty until proven innocent

General scientific good practice

The peer review process

This is designed to evaluate and critically appraise work

• do NOT use sources that are NOT peer reviewed.


Aims to eliminate any source of error

• Incorrect statistical analysis• Power of study• Absence of essential controls• Incorrect methodology• Over/mis - interpretation of data• Lack of reference to any conflicting data

• Falsification of data


The peer review process

Falsification of data

This something theWHOLE scientific community

is concerned aboutNot just NU

As budding scientists you TOOShould be aware, analytical and scientifically critical

This is GOOD scientific practice !

Peer review cannot guarantee scientific integrity


2014 examples

Academic and scientific integrity

We DO NOT anticipate any such problems with YOU !!!

We are training you to understand good scientific practice, integrity and moral

responsibility

Academic and scientific integrity


Accidental problems we have encountered are generallycollusionplagiarism

Collusion

• Some of you will be familiar with working in small study groups

• This is fine -

• You MUST however complete your

assignments INDEPENDENTLY

• Do NOT let someone else ‘borrow’ your finished essay

You will also be in trouble

• The consequences of collusion are serious

• It is a disciplinary offence

• The penalty can be a mark of 0%

Collusion

How plagiarism is detected

What is plagiarism ?

How to avoid plagiarism

The outcomes of plagiarising

Plagiarism

In simple terms, it is copying, that is, passinganother persons work off as your own:

‘Text’ - copying text from a book, paper, document etc.

‘Diagrams’ - copying a diagram

‘Idea’ - passing off another persons idea as your own

‘Auto’ - copying from yourself !

What is plagiarism ?

• Basically, this is copying the work of another person (text) and using in your own work

• Very easy to detect using a computer

• Can be very easily avoided

Text plagiarism

• Basically, this is copying the work (diagram) of another person and using in your own work

• Not easy to detect using a computer

• The lecturer will recognise the source of the diagram

• Can be very easily avoided

Diagram plagiarism

• Passing off the ideas / thoughts / hypothesis / hypotheses of another person as your own

• Cannot be detected by computer

• Can be detected by ‘an expert’: Your lecturer, who set the essay / exam question, will be

very familiar with the latest ideas and thoughts on a

subject and will recognise ideas / thoughts from other

scientists / researchers/groups

Idea plagiarism

• Possibly a difficult concept

• Basically, think of this as handing in the same piece of work twice for 2 different assessments

• This has happened and it comes up as a disciplinary issue (ZERO %).

Auto plagiarism

Three common forms of plagiarism:

Student 1 - takes the paragraph and just uses it

Student 2 - uses a dictionary and changes a few words

Student 3 - takes parts of some sentences, changessome words, adds some material

DON’T !!!!!!

How to avoid plagiarism

• Make notes in YOUR OWN words

• Make notes from a number of sources and then combine

• Don’t copy and paste

Quotes - material in “quotation marks” will not be consideredas plagiarised.

However, NOTE you will NOT get credit for what is in the quote

TEXT

• Yes, you can use figures and drawings from textbooks and papers, but you MUST STATE from where they came

• If you draw your own version ……..and add additional details / new facts you should still state that the figure is based on, or adapted from, where ever you got the ‘base’ figure

• ~ you will GET MORE MARKS for REDRAWING and ADDING information than just copying a figure…

Figures and drawings

• Your handbook

• http://bms.ncl.ac.uk/blog/?cat=76

• University web pages www.ncl.ac.uk/right-cite

Compulsory attendance

More information

Remember toSIGN the REGISTER

http://bms.ncl.ac.uk/blog/?cat=76

Essays (and projects) are submitted electronically


All files are put through detection software

40% plagiarised

Acceptable medical terminology

91% plagiarised

Is this AUTO –plagiarism ?

100% plagiarised

Essays (and projects) are submitted electronically and put through detection software


The consequences of plagiarising

This is described as an assessment irregularity, it is serious and it is dealt with officially

You will be asked to attend an interview with 2 MRes team members (usually Chair of Exam

Board and senior tutor)

You may • be given the opportunity to resubmit a new piece of work

where the maximum mark will be 50%• be given 0%• you may be expelled from the course

Why are we concerned about plagiarism ?

• Your work must be original

• It is an indicator of whether you understand

• We are training you to be honest and ethical scientists

It is not just us who is concerned about plagiarism


Good academic practice is relevant to the whole scientific community

ALL scientistsALL students

Be AWARE of the pitfalls and TAKE CARE in your work

• Have good year• Learn a lot• Meet new people and make friends• Broaden your horizons• Have fun !

MRes 2014-2015

Cite rite awaits you nowSIGN the REGISTER

Module selection – hopefully completed…..

Log on to the S3P portal – go to Modules tabshould have your module allocation

ONLY if you are fully registered

If NOT fully registered – List on noticeboard in Graduate School

If you requested module changes – these have been accommodated where possible

MRes 2014 - 2015

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