Plagiarism. We all know it. We all love it.
Hmph.
As a writer, I've learned to expect plagiarism and copyright infringement- not because my work is always particularly worthy of plagiarism though I will admit, I make myself proud on occasion, but because common sense is really lacking in many circles- and deal with it accordingly. As a blogger, however, I never considered that these things would be an issue. After all, blogging is all about personal opinion and surely everyone is capable of forming their own, no matter how uninformed, opinions on things... right?
I have since changed my mind for two reasons. First off is that I've discovered firsthand that blogging isn't always personal opinion. I can no longer count the number of blogs I've written that have been more research than opinion in nature. The second reason, sadly enough, is that I have officially become another statistic (again). Bummer.
I suppose that I should toss a third reason in there... I've lost count of the number of blogs (here on PU alone) that have been plagiarized all to hell.
With that being said, it's time for a little brush up, fellow bloggers, on what constitutes plagiarism.
The dictionary says: "the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work" (dictionary.com).
The good folks at the OWL at Purdue have listed several things that everyone should familiarize themselves with:
* Words or ideas presented in a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, Web page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other medium
* Information you gain through interviewing or conversing with another person, face to face, over the phone, or in writing
* When you copy the exact words or a unique phrase
* When you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts, pictures, or other visual materials
* When you reuse or repost any electronically-available media, including images, audio, video, or other media (OWL, n.d.).
Several terms ago I took my first forensic psychology class. Before midterms, most of the class was doing really well. Our midterms, however, changed all of that. In one fell swoop a class of twenty five passing students became a class of two passing students. And to top it off, all but those two were turned in for plagiarism. What happened? Sources weren't cited. It wasn’t intentional, but in the end, the intentions didn’t matter.
Hand in hand with plagiarism comes copyright infringement. Let’s take a quick look at that shall we?
“Copyright infringement is using someone else's work without getting that person's permission. The author of any original work, including books, essays, Web pages, songs, pictures, and videos, automatically gets the copyright to that work, even if she doesn't label it with the copyright symbol and her name” (Plagiarism Checker, n.d.).
A copyright lasts for the life of the author, plus 70 years. The University of North Carolina has a listing of when things become public domain to help everyone figure out when something is no longer protected by copyright: http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm
Unlike plagiarism, copyright infringement can and does result in legal action. Yes folks, you can be sued for using someone else’s work without permission. And it has been my experience that most people don’t give a flying flip if you know the rules of copyright infringement or not.
The bottom line is if you didn't write it and you're using it without giving credit it is plagiarism. If you are reposting or using someone else’s work without permission, it might just be copyright infringement. We were all born with enough common sense to know when we didn’t write something ourselves, let’s use it shall we?
If you didn’t write it, give credit and link to the original information. If you can’t find author information, make a note of it and post a reference linking to the original. Simple enough, yes?
References:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/02/
http://www.plagiarismchecker.com/plagiarism-vs-copyright.php
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Especially among highschool students, for some odd reason. Mainly because they don't want to do the work required for their papers they have to write, or for their presentations, ect. Which is why people should try to work their creativity as much as possible, so they won't have to worry about the issue. This obviously can't be the case in research papers, but in opinion articles, people can do better about thinking for themselves.
and it doesnt help that technology is making it even easier for people to buy or download "pre-written" essays and turning them in with their name on them.
Kids are way too lazy these days. and i agree that it definitely happens more in high school than anywhere else.
I wouldn't necessarily say that high school students do it more... just that it's easier to get away with it in high school than it is in college.
So many colleges are cracking down hard on plagiarism because of the entire buying pre-written essays thing. And colleges, at least to my knowledge, have stricter guidelines for citing sources than do many high schools. That makes it more difficult for a college student to plagiarize whereas high schools generally aren't under such strict guidelines. Which is unfortunate. I've heard from so many students coming into college that they don't know anything about citing sources or creating references pages. High schools should really spend a little more time on that aspect of things as well as the actual writing.
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
"May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the warm rays of the sun fall upon your home."
Oh, believe me, they do focus on it. but at times, it can be so dull and complicated that no one pays any attention.
I know we touched on it in high school, but not nearly enough for it to make a difference. It would also help greatly if they (the entire education system) would pick one form (APA, etc) and stick with it. Learning APA in high school isn't going to help a whit if one is expected to use MLA in college or vice versa.
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
"May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the warm rays of the sun fall upon your home."
agreed. my school was really big on plagiarism though, so i think they emphasized more on citations than most other high schools. (of course we also had some of the laziest students ive ever seen in my life)
I think that high school student do it for their paper because they do not have the time or are to lazy to complete there assignments them self.
Fallon. . . I couldn't agree more!
Although, I won't tell how old I am (hm, hm), the school where my daughters went, they were VERY big on learning both APA and MLA styles of citing materials. Even my 11 year old is learning how to cite material. Not to mention, being a writer myself, I am very strict with all my children on how to write and cite correctly.
As for college; at least the one I and my daughters attend (yes, I am attending college with my twin daughters) they have had to implement a stricter guideline on plagiarism simply because too many students were "being lazy" and copying, if not an entire article, at least part of one. There is actually a website/program that they pay for where they can submit all or part of any student's paper and it checks all sources to see if the content has been plagiarized. I too had a criminal justice course where the instructor was so distraught because she had to turn in some students for this very reason.
Thank you for bringing out this very important topic. In my blog, I quote people when I am responding for this very reason. I don't do it to mock, 'point fingers' or, make one become defensive as is usually the way people respond. I like to give credit where it is due and also, to make sure that I understood the writers intent in their written word.
I think there are too many young people out there that are too busy forming their opinion and response to any given subject (in regards to blogs) prior to actually taking in what they are reading. With papers that they have to write, they are simply too lazy to sit down and THINK about what it is they are suppose to be writing about; too lazy to do the research on their own; and are looking for the quickest means to the end.
All of these do not serve any good purpose to the original writer or the student. There are those of us who love to write and there are those who would rather do anything but. I have helped many a student who fall into the latter category. They say, "I just can't write!" I simply tell them to be themselves when writing and then, help them with the mechanics of the piece. There are plenty of helpful tools out there to help with the citing process. Here are a couple of links to "The Landmark Citation Machine", and the "Diana Hacker" website. Both of which are wonderful tools:
http://citationmachine.net/
http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/home.html
Lastly; I have to give credit to my daughters who have become wonderful writers over the years and they are only 19. I do remember one instructor 2 semester's ago accused one of them of plagiarism (verbally) and, believe me. . . I was ALL OVER that one because she did not plagiarize. She, naturally, was very upset about it. She went back and had to prove where she got each and every one of her sources to the instructor and, as it turned out, the instructor was INCORRECT.
So, I say to you students; do you homework, give yourself enough time, don't WAIT until the last minute where you may be tempted to use someone else's words as your own. Think of it as walking into a store and taking something without paying for it. It is the same thing. You have a mind AND an opinion. You use it everyday in conversations with your friends, classmates AND your parents. Everyone is unique. You don't have to write like the text's you read OR the books you read. Write as yourself but, give credit where it is due when you use another's thoughts and words throughout.
Thank you again, Fallon. . . GREAT topic!
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"Truths Are The Roots To Trust"
Thanks dear. And thanks for the links! I use Noodle Tools (http://noodletools.com) for my papers. If the information is input correctly, the reference format given is great. In text citations still have to be done manually of course... not that it's that difficult to do.
I'm glad that your daughters schools are working with citation! If all schools would make sure students knew it, we'd be in a lot better shape.
My school pays for a plagiarism checking tool as well, which I think is great. If you don't want to do the work yourself... why even bother going to college?! It's not a free ride!
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
"May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the warm rays of the sun fall upon your home."
Thank YOU, Fallon, for the "Noodletools" link. I will be testing it out! And, you can say that again. . as a matter of fact, why don't we;
"If you don't want to do the work yourself... why even bother going to college?! It's not a free ride!" (It was the "...free ride" part that got me)
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"Truths Are The Roots To Trust"
students who plagiarse are only hurting themselves, you have to write to improve. So when they get out of school into the real world they will be screwed.
I could not agree with you more!
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
"May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the warm rays of the sun fall upon your home."
One thing I practice: if it isn't common knowledge - the source needs to be cited or it is plagiarism. There are times when I have a hard time trying to figure out what is common knowledge and what is not; especially because I've been reading since a very early age and I remember most of what I read - so there are times I assume "everybody knows that" and then I am shocked and disappointed when I realize that nobody knew that.
If the idea is not yours - cite it, and make sure you cite it properly (MLA citations in an APA paper can get you caught for plagiarism!)
And Fallon - once again, a beautiful post. And so diplomatic, too :)
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
Thanks Fanaile. I'm glad it's diplomatic. I was beyond aggravated when I wrote it, but figured I'd get better results if I left out the "you bastards" ranting! :)
Figuring out what is and what is not common knowledge can be a pain. I've had similar experiences in thinking something was common knowledge only to find out it wasn't. The best thing I've found to do in the common knowledge situations that I'm just not sure about is to look it up (Google is your friend!) and put in an in-text citation, that way the bases are covered on the chance that I'm wrong and it's not common knowledge. I've noticed that a lot of things I thought were common knowledge aren't lol. Apparently, I'm an ocean of obscure and/or useless knowledge.
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
"May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the warm rays of the sun fall upon your home."
As a High School student, I find that many of my classmates plagiarse. They normally get away with it too. I currently wrote a paper on loneliness based off of "Of Mice And Men" by Steinbeck. I poured my heart and soul into my paper. When I recived it back from the teacher she wrote on the bottom " this paper is very well writen, I would hate to think that you would plagiarse. One can wonder..." I do see where she is comming from but I was pretty mad that she singled me out of the class. One of the few people that spent time on their paper, gets accused of stealing someone elses work. ugh.
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Do not go where the path leads you. Instead go where there is no path and leave a trail.
As a high school student who did her work, your teacher should have done hers prior to accusing you! That is THEE greatest insult to a writer (in my book). If she felt you may have plagiarized, she should have checked it out herself. If she found her thoughts to be untrue she should have just left the comment that your paper was very well written, period.
You would have had every right to call her on this if, in fact, you cited all your material correctly. Respectfully, of course :)
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"Truths Are The Roots To Trust"
I agree 100%. Plagerism is not really effective. It dosen't help kids learn the proper way. Of course some kids would think that it's beneficial in getting a good grade on something, but in reality, it's actually hurting them. There are so many ways to prevent plagerism. This would rather help kids succeed without "cheating".
I don't put too much stock in intellectual property laws. Although I think it's stupid to try to pass someone's idea off as you own wholesale, I don't really see any reason to warrant it being unlawful. IP is probably one of the best ways of slowing intellectual progress.
--Mike