Understanding Metadata Conflicts: A Student’s Experience with Plagiarism Accusations

As a student who recently faced an unexpected challenge, I wanted to share my experience concerning an allegation of plagiarism that initially seemed perplexing. This situation unfolded during an exam, where I was accused of submitting work that supposedly dated back to 2013. However, I can assure you, that was not the case, and I created my project just the day before.

During the exam, we utilized the latest version of AutoCAD Electrical for our tasks. Shortly after submitting my work, my professor pointed out an anomaly: the metadata indicated that my file had been created in 2013. This accusation left me bewildered and concerned about my academic integrity.

Upon investigating the metadata myself, I found it reflected a creation date of December 11, 2023. Yet, there was a puzzling discrepancy in the modification times – it showed the file was ‘last modified’ at 6 PM and ‘created’ at 9 PM of the same day. This mismatch raised further questions.

Some of my peers speculated that this could be a glitch related to “bit flipping,” which can occur in software environments, or perhaps a compatibility issue with the version of AutoCAD in use. I also considered that using a school computer could have added complexity to the situation. Since the C: drive on these computers clears itself after power-off, retrieving previous file versions was not an option. My work was saved on OneDrive, but access to digital forensics from that machine was impossible.

Fortunately, there was a positive resolution to this dilemma. After discussing the matter with my professor, he acknowledged the error and apologized, explaining that several other students experienced the same issue with their files. When he opened my submission on a different computer, the creation date for my project displayed correctly, eliminating concerns about my work’s authenticity.

This experience has highlighted the complexities associated with digital file metadata and its implications in academic settings. If you ever encounter a similar situation, here are some potential causes of such discrepancies, although not exhaustively:

1. Software Compatibility: Files created in older versions of software might possess metadata that confuses newer versions.
2. System Glitches: Occasionally, system errors or bugs can misinterpret file timestamps.
3. Network Issues: Saving or syncing files across various platforms might introduce unintended discrepancies.
4. Computer Malfunctions: Using diverse machines can sometimes lead to conflicts in how