Can extra credit at school be count as part of the requirement for
passing the class? I wrote a paper about "Are viruses alives" and the
teacher said I plagiarizing the work. how can you write a paper about
a topic that no even scientifics know the whole anwers to it.

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Request for Question Clarification by aceresearcher-ga on 03 Dec 2003 12:14 PST

miguel,

Are you saying that you wrote the paper for extra credit, and the
teacher is now giving you a failing grade in the class because the
paper was plagiarized? If so, the extra credit isn't being counted as
part of the requirement for passing the class. Instead, the teacher is
giving you a failing grade for turning in work that was not your own
(which is considered cheating).

What sources did you use to gather the information for your paper? Did
you rewrite those sources in your own words, or did you copy sections
of the information you found into your paper? If you copied sections
without attributing them (printing the name of the source and author
for each quote), then that is why your teacher has said that the paper
is plagiarized.

Regards,

aceresearcher

Extra credit policies vary from teacher to teacher.  Some teachers
will offer it, others will take a hardline position and accept only
the regularly assigned work.  I'm afraid there is no single right
answer to your query.

--Missy

Dear Miguel, 

"How can you write a paper about a topic that no even scientifics know
the whole anwers to it"?

This is exactly what science students do all the time. That's how we
make scientific progress, by checking what is already known, and
contrasting it with new things that we have learned.

There are countless possibilities on what to write on that subject: a
summary and analysis of all current research on the subject; a lab
experiment (or a series of experiments) trying to prove the question;
etc.

If you truly plagiarised, try to settle it with the teacher with a
minimum damage, maybe by handing out a new paper, or repeating the
course. If you haven't, try to prove that this is an original work,
perhaps by being tested on the subject.