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My answer to this question on slavery in the Sudan was deleted due to an allegation of 'plagiarism' by a moderator. This is a serious allegation.

However, if one looks under the main post, I clearly state that "my post was cribbed from the Wikipedia article, Slavery in the Sudan".

This proves I was not plagiarising. I would like my post reinstated with an apology from the moderator concerned regarding the allegation.

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    I don't see any reference to wiki in your answer or for that matter any links to show where you got it from. At a minimum you would need to include a link to the source and quote the material you got it from. The comment that the moderator left on your answer should make it clear why it was deleted.
    – Joe W
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 19:54
  • @Joe W: I state clearly in the comments that "my post was cribbed from the Wikipedia article, Slavery in the Sudan". This proves I wasn't intentionally plaigarising. This was the main charge that the moderator was accusing me of and it is completely wrong. A reminder to include the attribution in the main post should have been sufficient. A failure of moderating diplomacy - as far as I see it.
    – Mozibur Ullah
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 20:35
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    Comments don't count for citing sources they have to be in the post itself.
    – Joe W
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 20:44
  • @Joe W: Thats fine with me. But what I'm saying is that it proves I wasn't plaigarising. That's an accusation by the moderator that doesn't stand. And I'd like an apology.
    – Mozibur Ullah
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 21:23
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    @MoziburUllah The University of Oxford defines plagiarism as "presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement". Considering only the answer upon deletion, it did meet that definition. Further note that I did not accuse you in public, you decided to post it on meta. Seeing that the issue has not been resolved yet (now you misrepresent the source by misquoting), I feel the deletion was and still is the correct course of action.
    – JJJ Mod
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 21:33
  • @JJJ: I know what 'plagiarism' means. There is no need to quote a dictionary definition to me. As I have already pointed out to you, the fact that there was a comment of mine underneath the main post stating that I had 'cribbed' my answer from a Wikipedia article and which I named proves that I wasn't plagiarising.
    – Mozibur Ullah
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 21:45
  • @JJJ: Where have I 'misquoted' and what have I 'misrepresented'?
    – Mozibur Ullah
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 21:46
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    @MoziburUllah see also the comment under my answer below. Your first quote in the latest revision starts with "Slavery in the Sudan had a resurgance [sic] during" but I cannot find that passage in the Wikipedia article. Now you are paraphrasing from different parts of the article pretending it's a direct quote. As I stated in my previous comment, I suggest either using direct quotes (with attribution and quote markup) or writing in your own words and providing the link as reference. In any case it should be clear which parts are your own and which parts are paraphrased from elsewhere.
    – JJJ Mod
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 21:56
  • @JJJ: The accusation was in public, you left a comment underneath my post as well as messaging me privately. I answered that private post and I am answering your accusation in public - what's wrong with that?
    – Mozibur Ullah
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 21:59
  • @JJJ: It should read "Slavery in the Sudan [began in ancient times and recently] had a resurgance in the second Sudanese Civil War ...". That should read "Slavery in the Sudan ... had a resurgance ...". This isn't a deliberate misquotation but simply a mistake. Especially since you asked me re-edit the post after I had written it. It would have been simpler to have just said the post was edited from article I used - that's one meaning of the word 'cribbed'. But you asked me to re-edit it to make it clear where I was quoting from.
    – Mozibur Ullah
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 22:05
  • @JJJ: As you can see from the question, the reference to 'ancient times' was not neccessary for the answer and thats why I edited it out from my 'cribbed' answer.
    – Mozibur Ullah
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 22:08
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    As I have indicated, I don't feel my actions were wrong nor do I feel that I owe you an apology. I don't think this comment exchange will lead to a fruitful conclusion, so I will not reply further on this issue. I think my answer and previous comments suffice here. I'm sure the other mods and other high rep users will have a look at this post as well, so maybe they see it differently from me. If you wish to make a formal complaint about my moderation actions, feel free to use the contact form which is handled by community managers on weekdays.
    – JJJ Mod
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 22:09
  • @JJJ: I will do so if you insist on not re-instating my post and/or you don't apologise for your accusation of my alleged plagairism.
    – Mozibur Ullah
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 22:10
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    @MoziburUllah Oops, I linked the wrong help center page. The help center page on answering for politics says (on the 6th header) “answer well asked questions”. The fact that the question had no close votes when you answered doesn’t matter, because it is quite obviously off topic.
    – Ekadh Singh
    Commented Oct 16, 2021 at 17:46
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    @MoziburUllah that question was most definitely not on topic. It was extremely opinion based. Research effort has nothing to do with it.
    – Ekadh Singh
    Commented Oct 16, 2021 at 18:15

1 Answer 1

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As I indicated in my mod message reply, you should provide full attribution per the help center guidance on referencing material by others. Your post did not include a link to the original source. Posting a link in a comment is not proper attribution. Specifically, attribution should clearly indicate to the reader which parts are taken from another source and which parts are your own work (in case of modifying the source material).

In your case, you copied just short of entire sentences verbatim from Wikipedia while changing minor bits. As such, the plagiarism could not be resolved by adding a link to Wikipedia and including quote markup. As is standard policy, posts containing plagiarism are deleted with a message asking the author to correct the plagiarism and flag it for undeletion.

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  • -1: Please look up the definition of cribbing. It simply means a text has been derived from a more comprehensive one and is not making any claims for originality.
    – Mozibur Ullah
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 20:03
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    @MoziburUllah You're completely missing the point. The problem isn't the use of the word "cribbing", the problem is that you didn't place the attribution in the post itself.
    – F1Krazy
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 20:08
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    @MoziburUllah in your recent revision you use quote markups for sentences which are not taken verbatim from Wikipedia. Might I suggest that it is easier to either quote sentences entirely using quote markup (and providing a link for reference) or rephrasing it in your own words (without any verbatim copying) and giving credit to the original source for the information (also with a link for reference). Combining the two doesn't really work, unless you use inline quotes.
    – JJJ Mod
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 20:09
  • @F1Krazy: No, I'm not. What's wrong with reminding a poster that an attribution should be placed in the post itself. I agree, personally, that attributions should be placed in the main post. As my wording in the comment shows I understood that I was cribbing and that there wasn't much original material in the post itself. If anything, I edited the article so as yo show the main points clearly. The point I'm making is that plaigarism is a serious charge and that my comment above showed that I wasn't intentionally plaigirising. I merely forgot to place that attribution in the post.
    – Mozibur Ullah
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 20:30

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