Electronic Submission of Coursework - Frequently Asked Questions

All undergraduate students in the Department of Linguistics and English Language are required to submit an electronic copy of their essays in addition to a paper copy with signed coversheet. As you may not have done this before, we have compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions to help you.

What program should I use to write my essays? (What file types are OK?)

The two best file types are .doc (Microsoft Word) and .rtf (rich text format).

If you are using OpenOffice, you can save your file as RTF by following the instructions on the following web page: OpenOffice. Most other word processors also have a "Save As..." --> RTF option.

Please note that the online submission will only accept doc, docx, rtf, txt, pdf, htm, html file types. All other files will be rejected on upload.

If you're at all unsure, please ask Vicki Haslam for advice.

How do I submit my essays electronically?

In most cases, you will submit your essays via Moodle.

Log into Moodle as normal.
Click on the appropriate course module and you'll be taken to the course website for that module.
At the top of the page you will see the electronic submission area for coursework, it will look similar to this
If a course has more than one peice of coursework you will see a submission for each one.
Click on the link. Now you're taken to a page which gives details of the coursework requirements, including the ability to download the coursework requirements if you don't already have them. The submission deadline is also given - note this carefully, as essays that are handed in late without an agreed extension WILL be penalised.
Once you've written your essay, click on the 'My Submissions' tab.
Give your submission a title. It doesn't matter too much what you write here, but your name followed by 'LINGXXX Term 1 coursework' or whatever is a good idea.
Browse to locate your file. Your coursework is probably stored either on your computer, your network filestore or a portable USB drive. So, click on the 'Browse' button to locate and upload your essay. You can only submit one file.
Read the declaration and check the box to show that you 'Agree'. This is you confirming to us that your coursework is all your own work and no material has been copied without appropriate acknowledgement.
Click 'Add Submission'. And you're done! Now print out a copy and get yourself to the Linguistics Department to hand it in, together with a coversheet, BEFORE the deadline.

Can I submit several separate files, e.g. submit my essay and bibliography as separate documents?

No, you can only submit one file so please make sure that any references / appendices / images etc are pasted into your essay in the correct places, so you just have a single document to upload to Moodle. If this makes your essay too large to upload to Moodle, (20MB file size limit) please contact Vicki Haslam for advice.

What if I accidentally submit the wrong version of my essay?

Ideally, you should not submit the electronic version of your coursework until you're sure it's finalised. However, if you submit your coursework and then find you need to change it, or if you accidentally post the wrong file or anything of that nature, here's what you do.

You will be able to edit up to the deadline, and perhaps beyond, but the time of your last edit will be sent to the office as official submission time and date and any other times and dates will be disregarded.

First, go back to the coursework page and click on the link for your submission.
Follow the same steps as above and your original submission will be overwritten with the new one.

Note that you can't simply remove your coursework file and leave the submission page blank - you have to replace the incorrect submission with the correct one.

The important thing to remember is that YOUR PAPER AND ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS MUST BE EXACTLY THE SAME.

My essay requires the use of specialist phonetic fonts - will this be a problem?

No, but you do need to make sure that you use a standard font so that there aren't any problems if we need to print off a copy of your essay for the External Examiners to see.

To find out how to do this, download the instruction guide.

To find out about IPA font codes (refered to in the instruction guide), download the code list.

I'm attaching magazine articles / pictures from the web etc to my essay. What do I do about the electronic version?

If your essay includes images, please scan these (scanners are available in university PC labs) and paste them into your essay in the correct places. Because your electronic copy needs to be exactly the same as your paper copy, it's not acceptable to just submit the text electronically and then hand in the images only as hard copies. If, once you've pasted in the images, your essay is too large to upload to Moodle (max filesize 20MB), please contact Vicki Haslam for advice.

Aaaargh! I've just submitted my essay and I can see it online! Does this mean everyone can see my essay?

No! You can see your own work, but nobody else's and therefore nobody else can see yours. (Except for the course staff, i.e. your lecturer / seminar tutor and Vicki/Louise, who see a full list of submissions.) So rest assured that your fellow students can't even tell that you have uploaded your coursework, and they certainly can't download your essay.

Why do I need to submit my essays electronically?

The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, it means that the department doesn't need to store paper copies of your essays and dissertation(s). We have to keep these for three years (unless you collect them after you graduate), and with every student writing about eight essays a year, that's a lot of paper to store! It also means that you don't need to bother handing your essays back in ready for the External Examiners to see in the summer term, because we'll already have the electronic copies.

Secondly, it allows the department to use plagiarism detection software to monitor every student's coursework. As the internet has made plagiarism easier, there is often a small number of students who try to cheat on their coursework and we want to make sure that this is picked up. So, anyone who cheats is much more likely to get caught. Most of you don't need to worry though - as long as all quotations in your essays are properly referenced, you won't get into any trouble!

Why do I need to submit a paper copy as well?

Your tutors will prefer to mark a printed copy than read your essays online - much easier on the eyes! Also, some tutors like to write comments on your essay as they mark it, which can't be done nearly as easily online. And don't forget that we need your signed coversheet with the paper copy.

But my coursework is a poster, not an essay - what do I do?

In this instance, there's no need to submit an electronic version. Indeed, if you're making your poster by hand then it would be impossible! So you just need to hand in the 'hard copy' as usual.

What's the deadline for submitting my essays electronically?

The deadline for electronic submission is exactly the same as the deadline for the paper copy of your essay. You can find out what this is by visiting the Moodle site for each course module and looking at the 'coursework' section. The best thing to do is to submit your essay electronically while you're waiting for the paper copy to print out - you'll already be at your computer, so it's the perfect time! And it only takes a few seconds.

Remember, you need to submit both your electronic and paper copies BEFORE the deadline. If you don't, you'll lose 10% automatically (and get a mark of zero if either copy is more than a week late). See our Late Submission of Undergraduate Coursework and Dissertations page for full details of extensions and penalties.

What if I miss the deadline?

You can still submit your essays electronically via Moodle, even once the deadline has passed. So you must always submit an electronic copy, even if it's late. Of course, unless you have obtained an extension, you will be penalised appropriately. See our Late Submission of Undergraduate Coursework and Dissertations page for full details of extensions and penalties.

I have a question about electronic submission, but it isn't answered above. What should I do?

No problem - just contact Vicki Haslam and she will do her best to help.