Most Common Problems with Elective Reports
1. Late submission
It is advised to avoid this by keeping notes and making an early start to writing up - it always takes longer than expected. If the report is posted to the MBChB Office a copy should be kept along with proof of postage. Keep back up copies on disks or memory sticks. Do not put the only stick or disk in airline hold luggage – keep it in hand luggage. Losing data as you had not backed up or your laptop has crashed is not normally an acceptable reason for an extension.
It is your responsibility to make sure the report reaches the office on the due date. Do not leave printing of the report to the last day, as the volume of students doing this often causes printing problems. Late submissions will not be considered for elective prizes, and may result in failure – see sanctions. A student will not be able to graduate unless the elective report has been submitted and deemed satisfactory by the advisers on electives. If you think that you will be unable to submit the completed report by the deadline you should contact Diane Gerrie in the first instance on diane.gerrie@abdn.ac.uk explaining any reasons for the delay. Please bear in mind a request for an extension does not automatically grant you one and you should always aim to submit by the deadline even if the report is incomplete. An incomplete report is normally preferred to a late submission and students will be given credit for any work completed.
2. Not Consulting Supervisor
Under present regulations for submission of elective reports, the timescale involved may not make it practical for a local supervisor to see the report before submission. However, the supervisor should receive a copy of the report, but it is not a requirement that they approve this prior to submission.
3. Uncertainty as to who did the work
If you are involved in a collaborative project, it is necessary to be clear what your role was and what other people did e.g. if you analysed someone else's data - say so!
4 . Change of project not explained
If the project changed from the one agreed, make a clear statement explaining why.
5. Verbatim Quotes from the Literature and plagiarism
Do not copy chunks of text from reviews or papers - this is viewed as a very serious breach of good research practice. Literature should be reviewed or explained in your own words and quotes from other sources should be in quotation marks and clearly acknowledged and referenced as such. Plagiarised work will be rejected. Software is available that will check for plagiarism. At present the University of Aberdeen uses Turnitin and students must submit an electronic version of their report to this for analysis. Further instructions on this will be given to you during your elective block. Guidance on how to avoid plagiarism is available from https://www.abdn.ac.uk/sls/online-resources/avoiding-plagiarism/