Facing Allegations of Plagiarism Due to a 2013 Creation Date Marking—What Might Have Caused This?

Title: Addressing Accusations of Plagiarism: A Case Study in File Metadata Anomalies

In the world of academia, the specter of plagiarism can loom large, often leading to unnecessary stress for students. Recently, I found myself in a bit of a predicament after a professor accused me of submitting work created in 2013. This accusation could not have been further from the truth, as I had completed my assignment just the day before during the exam session.

I had utilized the latest version of AutoCAD Electrical for my project, and naturally, I was perplexed by this allegation. To clarify the situation, I inspected the metadata for my file, which clearly indicated a creation date of December 11th, 2023. Interestingly, the file had a creation timestamp at 9 PM but was last modified earlier that same day at 6 PM.

This discrepancy led to considerable confusion. If my metadata showed that the file was created in December 2023, why was the professor encountering a version dated 2013 when he attempted to access it? Some classmates suggested a potential “bit flip” issue could be the culprit. In my research, I discovered that a file from the 2013 version of AutoCAD Electrical would be incompatible with what I was using.

Compounding my concerns was the fact that I had taken this exam on a school computer. Due to the system’s configuration, the C: drive erased its contents upon shutdown, making it impossible to retrieve any previous iterations of my file. Fortunately, I had saved my work to OneDrive, which provided some peace of mind amid the chaos. The computer I used was a Dell Optiplex 780, running on Windows 11.

Fortunately, after some back-and-forth communication with my professor, the issue was resolved amicably. He graciously acknowledged the error, explaining that similar issues had arisen for several other students. When he reopened my file on a different computer, it no longer displayed the 2013 creation date. However, the problem persisted for another student’s submission.

While I am relieved the situation concluded positively without impacting my grade or triggering an academic integrity investigation, I’m aware that such misunderstandings can have serious implications. To aid those who might find themselves in similar situations in the future, here is a list of possible explanations for discrepancies in file creation dates: