FUNDAMENTALS

Notes on Plagiarism

Plagiarism can have a devastating effect on whoever is involved. In school, plagiarism can result in a person receiving a failing grade in a course. In the professional world, plagiarism can result in the loss of a job or the loss of reputation or both.

Plagiarism is copying another person’s work and presenting it as your own. This includes all or any portion of anyone else’s work. Sometimes plagiarism is the result of carelessness. Too often it is intentional.

Unless you say otherwise, the assumption is that what you have written originated with you. That assumption is that any writing you present as your own was in fact written by you, that the words used are yours and that the ideas are your ideas. Leaving that impression when in fact the material is not yours is what constitutes plagiarism.

The material in question can be as little as a paragraph or it can be part of a systematic stealing of information that you present as your own. In either case, you must avoid it.

The easiest way to avoid plagiarism is to attribute everything that is not yours. Say that so and so said such and such about this in her/his book, article or whatever. Say the idea originated with someone else. Don’t hold back when it comes to providing this information. Err on the side of giving too much credit.

More often than not, here’s where people go wrong: They take a paragraph or two off the Internet or from some other source as part of the research for an article. Then they put it in an article or a report without saying where the copied material comes from. At the moment they don’t think that’s important.

Carelessness is not an excuse. Shifting the blame won’t work. The manner in which the plagiarism originated is of little concern. The writer and/or editor have the responsibility for authenticity. Even famous writers have learned this.

To avoid plagiarism, follow this simple rule: Always, always, always attribute.

When doing research you will of course need to look at as many different sources as possible. You should be able to take the information you have found and summarize it. If you are concerned about the extent of the borrowing, you can always add a footnote giving full credit.

You do not have to attribute commonly accepted facts unless, or course, you find conflicting information about those facts. But, when you repeat specific forms of expression about the facts in question, you must attribute.

Suppose you are using a general idea or premise from another source and you do so in your own words. Should you attribute that? Absolutely. Plagiarism includes the use of other people’s approaches to specific situations. Therefore, don’t take shortcuts in owning up to where information comes from.

Plagiarism is stealing, whether it is words, phrases and sentences or whatever. A single use of another’s word or three-word phrase won’t brand you as a plagiarist. But, if you do that over and over, you will have crossed the line. Such shortcuts are habit-forming and can lead to more serious offences.

The exception to that is general story ideas. They are in the public domain.

Several excellent sources of information about plagiarism are available on the Internet. Go to Google and then check the sites from the University of Indiana, Purdue University and Georgetown University.

The fair use doctrine allows you to use a certain amount of copyrighted material without getting permission from the copyright owner. But, that doesn’t mean you can use the material without attribution.

In general, the law established four broad areas of fair use, and they are:

1. The purpose and character of the use
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount used
4. The effect of use on the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

If you use more material than that included in the areas of fair use, you must get permission from the owner of the copyright before you use it.

Several excellent Internet sites are available to explain fair use and other provisions of the law. The best one is the University of Texas System Crash Course in Copyright at http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/Cprtindx.htm

By way of explanation: I have read a great deal about plagiarism through the years and have borrowed from that in writing this piece. I have not intentionally used anything specific. However, my statement about the importance of attribution has been used by just about everybody. I’d like to think I said it first. But I have no proof of that. The four areas of fair use are taken directly from the copyright law.

You may use any or all of this as long as you give me credit.

-- David McHam

BEYOND THE BASICS