I have a question regarding my SSC who should I ask? What happens if I fail? Why should I give feedback at the end of this SSC?

Transcription

1 1 SSC History of Medicine Frequently Asked Questions This document contains answers to the frequently asked questions about this assignment and should be used alongside the other instructions for the task. You should read this document before you start your essay! Support and guidance (GO TO PAGE 4) I have a question regarding my SSC who should I ask? What happens if I fail? Why should I give feedback at the end of this SSC? Choosing an essay title (GO TO PAGE 5) Am I free to interpret the title of the essay? Do I have to use one of the prescribed essay titles or can I use one of my own? I am resitting the year can I submit the same essay as last year? Formatting your essay (GO TO PAGE 6) Are abbreviations permitted, for example when quoting measurements? Can I use Headers and Footers? Can I use subheadings? Can I include pictures/graphs etc in my essay? Do I have to include an abstract and method? Do we print our essays single or double sided? Does the essay have to be submitted in a folder? Does the information on the title page count in the word count? Does the reference list count in the word count? Should my reference list be double-spaced and double-justified? What does double-justified mean? What font should I use? What information should the title page include? What percentage of the essay can be references and quotes? Is there a limit? References and information sources (GO TO PAGE 9) Are we allowed to cite theses in our essay?

2 2 Can I cite articles written in a foreign language? Can I include my own drawings / photo's and would there be an issue regarding copyright / plagiarism? Can I use information sources from libraries other than the University s? Can I use Interlibrary Loans? Do I cite articles that I have read but not used in writing my essay? Do I quote the page numbers of the whole chapter or just the page numbers of the quotation? Do journals accessed via Medline count as an electronic reference? How do I cite advance access documents? How do I cite books and book chapters? How do I cite books such as the Qur an or the Bible? How do I cite dictionaries? How do I cite electronic journal articles? How do I cite journal articles? How do I cite magazine and newspaper articles? How do I cite my lecture notes? How do I cite pamphlets? How do I cite webpages? I have identified references, but cannot access them all. What do I do? Is copyright permission required when including a table from a journal? Should reports be cited as journals or books? The article I am reading references another source. Which one do I reference? What is the Vancouver referencing system? When citing a journal should I include the volume number and the issue number? When referencing more than one page of a website does this count as one or more reference? Submitting your work to JISC TurnItIn (GO TO PAGE 16) How do I use JISC plagiarism detection software? How important is the percentage number produced by JISC? How long will JISC take to produce an originality report? I have modified my essay after I have submitted it to JISC. Do I have to resubmit it to JISC? JISC gives a word count different to that to MS Word. Which should I include on the title page? JISC has highlighted text in my essay but I have included an in-text citation and reference. What should I do?

3 3 JISC has highlighted text in my reference list! What should I do? Submitting your essay to the Medical School, deadlines and extensions (GO TO PAGE 19) Can I have a deadline extension? What do I have to submit with my essay? Marking issues (GO TO PAGE 20) Are there different marking criteria for different titles? Can I appeal against my grades? Can I submit a rough version of my essay before formally submitting it? How are the essays marked? What happens if I exceed the word count? Will I lose marks for referencing only a single type of reference, for example just books? Will I be penalised if I do not conform to the word limit? Will I be penalised if I use less than 12 references? SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE I have a question regarding my SSC who should I ask? In the first instance you should direct your question to the academic lead for this SSC Dr Julian Burton. Dr Burton can be contacted by on: j.l.burton@shef.ac.uk. What happens if I fail? You must pass the SSC to pass the Phase and progress into Phase 2. If you score a Borderline grade for Professional Behaviour or Overall Competence you will be required to attend a meeting with the SSC lead (Dr Marshall) or Phase Director

4 (Dr Burton) to discuss your performance and ways in which it can be improved. No additional work is required for a Borderline grade in this SSC (although you will have to complete additional work if you were awarded a Borderline grade in Overall Competence for another Phase 1a SSC). If you are awarded an Unsatisfactory grade for Overall Competence, you will be required to attend a meeting with the SSC lead (Dr Marshall) or Phase Director (Dr Burton) to discuss your performance and ways in which it can be improved. Additional work will be set and this must be completed satisfactorily before you can progress to Phase 2. There is no limit to the number of attempts that you can make to pass this SSC, but you must pass it in order to progress. 4 Why should I give feedback at the end of this SSC? It is important that all students give feedback at the end of this SSC. You will be able to do so via Minerva. Student feedback is valuable. It allows the SSC coordinator to review this learning opportunity and to ensure that appropriate facilities are in place to support it. You should aim to be constructive. Positive feedback on what worked is just as important as negative feedback on what didn t. Your feedback will influence the SSC for students in subsequent years. This year s SSC has been influenced by last year s feedback. CHOOSING AN ESSAY TITLE Am I free to interpret the title of the essay? Yes. You are encouraged to do so. Do I have to use one of the prescribed essay titles or can I use one of my own? You must select one of the 270 titles given. You may not modify the title or use your own title. If you wish to suggest a title for students in subsequent years, please it to Dr Burton at j.l.burton@shef.ac.uk. I am resitting the year can I submit the same essay as last year?

5 No. Students who failed the first and second sittings of the summative assessments have to resit the year. You must repeat the assignment this year (even if you passed it last year) and you must choose a different essay title to the one you used last year. You cannot submit the same essay as last year (regardless of the grades awarded for that assignment). 5 FORMATTING YOUR ESSAY Are abbreviations permitted, for example when quoting measurements? Abbreviations are permitted. Standard International units (e.g. m (metres), kg (kilograms), mm (millimetres)) do not need to be expanded. All other abbreviations should be expanded on their first use in the text, for example, the British Medical Association (BMA) recommends that Can I use Headers and Footers? The use of headers and footers should be avoided. Avoid the use of footnotes. Can I use subheadings? Yes. Subheadings often improve the readability of text and help you to focus your arguments. You are encouraged to use them. Can I include pictures/graphs etc in my essay? A picture is worth a 1000 words. However, you are not being assessed on pictures included in the text. Moreover, pictures may be subject to copyright. The only person who can grant permission for you to include a copyrighted image is the copyright holder (who may charge you a fee). You should therefore avoid the inclusion of images in your essay. If you do include images you must acknowledge the source and be sure that they are not copyrighted. Remember that images found on the Internet may also be subject to copyright. The inclusion of non-attributed images and the use of copyrighted images without consent from the copyright-holder will be regarded as plagiarism. Do I have to include an abstract and method?

6 No. Neither an abstract nor a methods section is required. You should start the essay with an Introduction which briefly outlines what you are going to write about in the essay. You may divide the bulk of your essay using additional subheadings. Finish with a Conclusion and your Bibliography (reference list). 6 Do we print our essays single or double sided? Essays should be printed single-sided. The text should be double-justified and double line spaced. Does the essay have to be submitted in a folder? No. Your essay should be submitted printed single-sided on A4 paper, with a title page. Your essay should be accompanied by a statement of academic probity and learning, a JISC originality report, and by an assessment form. The pages should be fastened together by a single staple at the top left-hand corner. Do NOT submit you essay in a folder, binder, or any other form of presentation device. You must submit 1 copy of all documentation, including the essay itself! You must also submit 1 electronic copy of your essay (but not the other documents) in PDF format to ssc.submission@sheffield.ac.uk. Does the information on the title page count in the word count? No. The information included on the title page should not be included in the word count. Everything else in your essay is included in the word count. Your reference list is also included in the word count. Does the reference list count in the word count? Yes. Just as it would if you were submitting a paper to a journal, your reference list is included in the word count. You are encouraged to write concisely. Should my reference list be double line-spaced and double-justified? Yes. Your entire essay should be typed double line-spaced and double-justified, including the reference list. The JISC originality report does not need to be double spaced.

7 7 What does double-justified mean? Double-justified text is aligned along both the left and right sides of the page. This is in contrast to left-justified text in which the text is aligned only along the left side of the page (a legacy of typewriters). What font should I use? Your essay should be typed using a legible sans-serif font such as Arial. Please use a sensible font size. Font size 12 is standard. What information should the title page include? The title page of your essay should list the essay title (including the essay NUMBER i.e. 48. The madness of King George III), your 9-digit Student Registration Number (which can be found on your U-Card), and the word count. (This word count includes everything after the title page). For example: 48: The Genetic Legacies of Queen Victoria Student registration number Word Count: 1624 Make sure your Student Registration Number as it appears on your title page is correct! Do NOT include your name. Essays are marked anonymously. What percentage of the essay can be references and quotes? Is there a limit? You must cite between 12 and 20 references, of which no more than 50% can be web pages. You can include as many quotations as needed. However, you are encouraged to use reference materials as a source of ideas rather than words. An essay comprising multiple quotes stitched together, with little of your own writing will not score well.

8 8 REFERENCES AND INFORMATION SOURCES Are we allowed to cite theses in our essay? Yes. A thesis should be cited in the same way as a book (See below). Can I cite articles written in a foreign language? If you find an article that is in a language other than English, you may (if able) translate it and cite it. Translations should be indicated as such in your bibliography by enclosing the title of the article in square brackets [i.e. these] and indicating the original language at the end of the citation i.e. (in French). The name of the translator does not need to be included in your reference. Can I include my own drawings / photo's and would there be an issue regarding copyright / plagiarism? Yes, you can include these. If you have redrawn something from another source a reference to this must be cited but there would be no issue regarding copyright. Can I use information sources from libraries other than the University s? Yes. You may use information from any of the University s libraries and from any other library provided that you do not obtain it as an Interlibrary Loan. Can I use Interlibrary Loans? No. Interlibrary loans can only be requested with the consent of the relevant academic (in this case, Dr Burton). Such consent will not be granted under any circumstance. You should make use of resources available in the library. Interlibrary loans are extremely expensive and their use for this SSC would have a significant impact on the library s budget. If your literature search identifies a source that is not held by the library you may obtain credit for finding it by including a list of unobtainable references at the end of your essay. (In this case, the total number of references, both cited and unavailable, should fall within the reference limit.) Do I cite articles that I have read but not used in writing my essay?

9 No. You may find that while preparing your essay you read articles that in the end do not contribute to your argument and which you do not use. You need only cite articles that you actually use. 9 Do I quote the page numbers of the whole chapter or just the page numbers of the quotation? You should quote the page numbers of the entire chapter, not just the page bearing the text you are quoting. Do journals accessed via Medline count as an electronic reference? No. The fact that you found the reference electronically doesn t matter. A reference counts as paper-based if it exists in hard copy somewhere. Most journals cited on Medline are available both electronically and in hard copy and do not therefore count as webpage references. As a rule of thumb, if the article has a volume number and page numbers, it should be cited as a journal article and not as a webpage. How do I cite advance access documents? Advance access documents are articles in journals which are not yet in print. Because they do not yet exist in hard copy, they should be cited as web pages. How do I cite books and book chapters? The purpose of referencing is to allow the reader to go back with ease to your original sources. As with all references, books and book chapters are numbered according to the order of their first use in the text (where they are indicated by a superscript number). Book chapters should be cited in the bibliography with the following information, in the following order: Author name (of the chapter you are citing if this book has chapters written by different people, or of the book if all chapters have been written by all the authors). Number and Title of the Chapter Editor of the book (if applicable some books are written by a single author and do not have an editor)

10 10 Title of the Book City of Publication Publisher For example: Year of Publication Page Numbers 1. Underwood JCE. Chapter 2: The future of the autopsy. In: Burton JL, Rutty GN (Eds). The Hospital Autopsy, 2e. London; Arnold: 2001: Porter R. Chapter 2: The roots of medicine. In: The Greatest Benefit To Mankind. A Medical History Of Humanity From Antiquity To The Present. London; Fontana Press: 1999: If you cite different parts of a single chapter, these all count as one reference, even if you cite different pages. So, the above reference list may indicate that the writer has used pages 16, 18, 19, 35 and 42 from reference 2. Cite the page numbers of the whole chapter, not just the pages you use. If you cite more than one chapter from a book, each chapter counts as a separate reference. For example, if you cite from Chapter 2: The roots of medicine and Chapter 6: Indian medicine, each chapter counts as a separate reference. The edition of the book is denoted after the title. In example 1, above, the book is the second edition, as denoted by 2e. A first edition does not need special notation (as shown in example 2). How do I cite books such as the Qur an or the Bible? Religious texts are cited in the same way as any other book. The author is listed as Anonymous. You should include the publisher, edition number and year of publication in your reference. How do I cite dictionaries? Dictionaries should be cited in the same way as other books. They may have authors or editors, or be anonymous, and of course they do not have chapters. A long list of dictionary references will not, however impress examiners, and you are advised to keep their use to a minimum. In general, examiners do not need to be told what words mean. How do I cite electronic journal articles?

11 There are two types of electronic journals. The first type is an electronically available version of a journal that is also available on paper. For example, the British Medical Journal is available on paper but also on-line at In the electronic versions of these journals articles you will find the year, volume and page numbers of the paper version. You cite this type of electronic journal as if it were the paper version (see How do I cite journal articles? ) The second type of electronic journal has no paper version they are purely webbased. Examples include those journals published by BioMedCentral. If these articles include a year of publication, volume number and page number, you may cite them as if it were available on paper. In this case it would not count towards your webpage references. If the article does not have a year, volume, page number reference, it must be cited as a webpage (see How do I cite webpages? ) 11 How do I cite journal articles? The purpose of referencing is to allow the reader to go back with ease to your original sources. As with all references, journal articles are numbered according to the order of their first use in the text (where they are indicated by a superscript number). In the bibliography you should cite the journal article by giving the following information in the following order: For example: Author s names (if 6 or more authors, cite the first 3 followed by et al.) Name of the article Name of the journal (either written out in full or using the approved Index Medicus abbreviation, and in italicised text) Year of publication Journal Volume (in emboldened text) Page numbers 5. Burton JL, Underwood JCE. Autopsy practice after the organ retention scandal : requests, performance and tissue retention. Journal of Clinical Pathology 2003; 56: Grade MHC, Zucoloto S, Kajiwara JK, et al. Trends of accuracy of clinical diagnoses of the basic cause of death in a university hospital. J Clin Pathol 2004; 57:

12 Write author s names with the surname first, followed by their initials (without full stops between them). Note the punctuation between the year of publication, volume and page numbers! 12 How do I cite magazine and newspaper articles? Magazine and newspaper articles are cited in the same way as journal articles. How do I cite my lecture notes? You may not use your lecture notes as a reference source for this SSC. How do I cite pamphlets? Pamphlets should be cited as if they were books. How do I cite webpages in the bibliography? The purpose of referencing is to allow the reader to go back with ease to your original sources. As with all references, web pages are numbered according to the order of their first use in the text (where they are indicated by a superscript number). In the bibliography cite the webpage by giving the full URL of the page, followed by the date it was accessed. For example: 7. m Accessed Accessed Your citation will be regarded as incomplete if you do not include the date accessed web pages, unlike textbooks and journal articles, are subject to change. However, many webpages do not have titles or apparent authors. Remember that you must cite references and no more than 50% of these can be web pages (for example, if you cite 14 references no more than 7 can be web pages). You should cite the precise web page accessed (and not just the host site). If you access several pages from one host site, each counts as a separate reference.

13 13 I have identified references, but cannot access them all. What do I do? If your literature search identifies a source that is not held by the library you may obtain credit for finding it by including a list of unobtainable references at the end of your essay. (In this case, the total number of references, both cited and unavailable, should still fall within the reference limit). Is copyright permission required when including a table from a journal? No, it isn t but the source of the table must be referenced in the same way as any quotation. Should reports be cited as journals or books? Reports, for example, the Redfern report, should be cited in the same way as books. The article I am reading references another source. Which one do I reference? You should cite the source that you have in front of you. For example, you may cite a book chapter X that refers to a paper Y. If you only have X in front of you, cite X (because unless you go and find paper Y you cannot be sure that chapter X has correctly cited Y). What is the Vancouver referencing system? This is a system of citing references used by many journals around the world. In the body text, references are denoted using a superscript number. References are allocated their numbers according to the order in which they are first cited. For example, if a journal article is the first reference, it is denoted in the text with a superscript 1. The next reference is denoted in the text with a superscript 2. If you use the first reference 1 again it retains its original number. When citing a journal should I include the volume number and the issue number? You should include the volume number but not the issue number. See: How do I cite journal articles

14 14 When referencing more than one page of a website does this count as one or more reference? Each page counts as a separate reference. You are discouraged from using web pages as references.

15 15 SUBMITTING YOUR WORK TO JISC TURNITIN How do I use JISC plagiarism detection software? In addition to submitting your work to your portfolio electronically and to the school of medicine in hard copy, you are also required to submit an identical copy for evaluation by the JISC Plagiarism Detection Service. The school of medicine cannot register you with JISC you must do this yourself. To do this you must first register yourself as a user of the service. You can do this by following these simple steps: 1. Review the JISC Student User Guide (which you can download in PDF format from the SSC HOM area in Minerva, or direct from JISC at: dent_user_manual 2. Access the JISC registration page at: 3. Select Student in the dropdown menu and click next. 4. You will be prompted to enter the JISC PDS class ID and the JISC PDS class enrolment password. The Class ID for this assignment is and the enrolment password is phase1. (Note these are case-sensitive). 5. Follow the on-screen instructions on the subsequent screens. 6. Having registered with JISC, go to and click the user login button. 7. On the login page, enter your address and user password. 8. Click login to open your JISC PDS homepage. 9. You should be enrolled in class Phase If no classes appear on your home page, click the enrol in a class button and enter the class id ( ) and password (phase1). 10. Submit your assignment by file upload. Click the submit button next to the assignment (SSC HOM ). Select file upload from the submission pull down menu. Enter a title for your submission (this should be the title of your essay). Click the browse button and locate the paper you want to submit. Click submit. The JISC software will create an originality report. When this is ready, the software has been configured so that you can view it. Next to your paper you will see a report icon. Once this is coloured your report is ready to view (this may take anything up to 72 hours). The colour of the icon indicates the degree of similarity that your work has to other sources (blue: <20 words; green: 0-24% matching text; orange: 25-49% matching text; yellow: 50-74% matching text; red % matching text). Obviously you should be aiming to submit work has a low similarity to other work. The JISC software is a tool to help combat plagiarism it does not detect plagiarism itself. It will compare your work to other published works and to all works that have been submitted to JISC! In other words, it will also compare your work to that of your classmates.

16 Note that a high percentage score does not necessarily equate with plagiarism. JISC recognises a lack of originality but does not detect your citations. You may have correctly cited your source but JISC wont detect this. JISC also does not distinguish between the body of your essay and the reference list. If the software gives you the option, you should include the reference list in the report for assessment by JISC. If, having seen your JISC originality report, you wish to amend your essay, you may do so. You should then upload your essay into JISC again (by repeating the steps above), download your new JISC report and attach that to the essay you submit to the School of Medicine for marking. You should print off the originality report (usually this will be 4-5 pages long) and submit it along with your essay, assessment forms and statement of academic probity to the school of medicine reception before the deadline for the assignment (12Noon, Thursday 3rd November 2016). 16 How important is the percentage number produced by JISC? It is not important at all and you can ignore it. The markers are also instructed to ignore the percentage mark. The percentage produced by JISC is a guide to how much of the work is unoriginal. However, the software does not distinguish between the body of the essay and the reference list. A reference list containing many sources which JISC recognises will artificially inflate the percentage. Rather than worry about the percentage, concentrate on what the software has highlighted as unoriginal. How long will JISC take to produce an originality report? It is difficult to say. JISC offers no firm guidance on this. When we have tried it in the School of Medicine the reports took anywhere from 2-24 hours to become available. In previous years some students have found it took up to 40 hours for the report to become available, particularly for resubmissions. You should remember that any software can fail, and that any website can crash unexpectedly. If this happens it will delay you. You are advised to consider this when planning your work. You are therefore advised to assume it will take at least 72 hours for your originality report to be produced by JISC. JISC is slower at busier times for example in the 24 hours before the deadline for submission. Suffice it to say that an essay uploaded into JISC 2 hours before the submission deadline is unlikely to be ready in time. If your submission is late because you had to wait for JISC, you will still be penalised for a late submission.

17 17 I have modified my essay after I have submitted it to JISC. Do I have to resubmit it to JISC? Yes even if you have only made small changes. When you submit your work for marking the text of the essay and the JISC report must be identical. JISC gives a word count different to that to MS Word. Which should I include on the title page? You should use the word count generated by MS Word (or whatever word-processing software you use). JISC generates a higher word count because it also reads your title page. JISC has highlighted text in my essay but I have included an in-text citation and reference. What should I do? You should relax! JISC recognises text that has been taken from other sources. It does not recognise the fact that you have cited your source. Provided that you have cited a source for the highlighted text, you need take no action. If you have directly quoted another source, you quotation should be enclosed in quotation marks. JISC has highlighted text in my reference list! What should I do? You need do nothing. JISC checks for originality. Obviously the title of the sources is not original because it was used by the original authors. JISC does not distinguish between the body of your essay and the reference list.

18 18 SUBMITTING YOUR ESSAY TO THE MEDICAL SCHOOL, DEADLINES AND EXTENSIONS Can I have a deadline extension? Deadline extensions are granted only in exceptional circumstances such as significant illness or matters that require compassionate leave (e.g. a death in the family). Students who require a deadline extension for this SSC should in the first instance Dr Burton (j.l.burton@shef.ac.uk) explaining why it is required. The nature of the extension and any attached terms (for example submission of a Sick Note) will be agreed with you by Dr Burton. Requests for deadline extensions should be made as soon as you find you need more time. A request submitted 6 hours before the submission deadline asking for 2 weeks extension due to illness is unlikely to be granted. Deadline extensions requested after the submission deadline has passed will not be granted. What do I have to submit with my essay? When you submit your essay to the School of Medicine Reception Desk it should be accompanied by a completed Statement of Academic Probity and Learning, a JISC Originality Report, a receipt and also by an Assessment Form. You must complete the top portion of the Assessment Form. You must submit ONE copy of each document (Essay, JISC Report, Assessment Form, and Statement of Academic Probity). You must also submit ONE electronic copy of your ESSAY (but not the other documents) in PDF format to: ssc.submission@sheffield.ac.uk. MARKING ISSUES Are there different marking criteria for different titles? No. All of the essay titles are marked using the same criteria, as set out in the documentation supplied for this SSC. Can I appeal against my grades? No. The grading process for this SSC is rigorous and appeals will not be allowed. All papers awarded a Borderline or Unsatisfactory grade are second-marked (moderated) before the grades are published. All papers awarded Excellent grades for all categories

19 are similarly moderated. A random selection of all other papers from all of the markers are also second-marked to ensure that the marking scheme has been adhered to. Students who pass the SSC but are unhappy with their grade can meet with the academic lead for this SSC to discuss the reasons for their grades, but the work will not be remarked. 19 Can I submit a rough version of my essay before formally submitting it? No. You may not submit a rough draft to the school of medicine, your mentor, or any other academic. This would have the potential to generate such a huge quantity of reviewing and marking as to be untenable. You should follow the instructions given for this SSC and work on your essay until you are happy with it. Examples of excellent essays written by students last year are available on Minerva to give you guidance as to what is expected. How are the essays marked? The essays are marked by members of the academic staff who have an interest in the history of medicine. In general, all essays pertaining to a particular title are marked by a single examiner. Essays are graded according to the assessment criteria for this SSC, which you can access from Minerva. All essays that are originally graded as Borderline or Unsatisfactory for Overall Competence and/or for Professional Behaviours will be second-marked. All essays graded excellent for all criteria are similarly second-marked. What happens if I exceed the word count? Try not to exceed the word count. Your essay should be words long, including references but not including the title page. Essays which exceed or fall short of the word count by 10% or less are awarded a Borderline grade for Generic Graduate Skills. Essays which exceed or fall short of the word count by more than 10% are awarded an Unsatisfactory grade for Generic Graduate Skills. More information about the Vancouver referencing system can be found at: and in the lecture on Avoiding Plagiarism given in Week 1 of the course. If you want to see examples of Vancouver referencing in action, then go to the library (or look on line) at the British Medical Journal and the articles that appear therein.

20 20 Will I lose marks for referencing only a single type of reference, for example just books? You would not lose marks but it is somewhat unimaginative and you are unlikely to score highly for generic graduate skills. Examiners do not favour candidates who heavily rely on one book for their essay. Will I be penalised if I use less than 12 references? Yes. If you cite 8-11 references you will be given a Borderline grade for generic graduate skills. If you cite seven or fewer references, you will be awarded an Unsatisfactory grade.