Plagiarism

For other uses, see Plagiarism (disambiguation).
For Wikipedia policies concerning plagiarism, see Wikipedia:Plagiarism and Wikipedia:Copyright violations.
A demonstration of how an individual may replicate text from another source to intentionally deceive a reader into believing they wrote the text themselves. In this example, the introductory paragraph of the Wikipedia article for the Trojan War (top) has been copy-and-pasted into a Microsoft Word document by John Doe (bottom). Doe, who is writing an essay about the Trojan War, has therefore committed plagiarism by attempting to pass off the writing as his own, without presentation as a quote, and without sourcing to the original article.

Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.[1][2][3] Although precise definitions vary depending on the institution,[4] in many countries and cultures plagiarism is considered a violation of academic integrity and journalistic ethics, as well as of social norms around learning, teaching, research, fairness, respect, and responsibility.[5] As such, a person or entity that is determined to have committed plagiarism is often subject to various punishments or sanctions, such as suspension, expulsion from school[6] or work,[7] fines,[8][9] imprisonment,[10][11] and other penalties.

Plagiarism is typically not in itself a crime, but like counterfeiting, fraud can be punished in a court[12][13] for prejudices caused by copyright infringement,[14][15] violation of moral rights,[16] or torts. In academia and in industry, it is a serious ethical offense.[17][18] Plagiarism and copyright infringement overlap to a considerable extent, but they are not equivalent concepts,[19] and although many types of plagiarism may not meet the legal requirements in copyright law as adjudicated by courts, they still constitute the passing-off of another's work as one's own, and thus plagiarism.

Not all cultures and countries hold the same beliefs about personal ownership of language or ideas. In some cultures, the reiteration of another professional's work can be a sign of respect or flattery towards the person whose work is reiterated.[20] Students who are from such countries and cultures and who move to the United States or other Western countries (where plagiarism is frowned upon) may find the transition difficult.[21]

  1. ^ From the 1995 Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary:

    use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work

    qtd. in Stepchyshyn, Vera; Nelson, Robert S. (2007). Library plagiarism policies. Assoc. of College & Resrch Libraries. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-8389-8416-1.
  2. ^ From the Oxford English Dictionary:

    The action or practice of taking someone else's work, idea, etc., and passing it off as one's own; literary theft.
  3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary (5th ed.), defines plagiarize thus: “To reproduce or otherwise use the words, ideas, or other work of another as one’s own, or without attribution.”
  4. ^ Eaton, Sarah Elaine (August 2017). "Comparative Analysis of Institutional Policy Definitions of Plagiarism: A Pan-Canadian University Study". Interchange. 48 (3): 271–281. doi:10.1007/s10780-017-9300-7. ISSN 0826-4805. S2CID 152188935.
  5. ^ Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity (PDF) (3rd ed.). Delaware: International Center for Academic Integrity [ICAI]. 2021. ISBN 978-0-9914906-7-7.
  6. ^ "University bosses call for ban on essay-writing companies". 27 September 2018. Students caught submitting work that is not their own face serious penalties, which can include being thrown off their university course.
  7. ^ "Daily News fires editor after Shaun King accused of plagiarism". 19 April 2016.
  8. ^ "Jeff Koons found guilty of plagiarism over multi-million-pound sculpture". 8 November 2018. Archived from the original on 2022-01-11. The court ordered Mr Koons, his business, and the Pompidou museum - which had exhibited the work in 2014 - to pay Mr Davidovici a total of €135,000 (£118,000) in compensation.
  9. ^ "Fashion designer Galliano fined for copying imagery". 19 April 2007. Fashion designer John Galliano's company was ordered to pay 200,000 euros ($271,800) in damages to renowned U.S. photographer William Klein
  10. ^ "Polish professor could face three-year sentence for plagiarism". 5 December 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Ex-VC of DU sent to jail for 'plagiarism', released". 26 November 2014.
  12. ^ "Why Belgium's plagiarism verdict on Luc Tuymans is beyond parody". 21 January 2015.
  13. ^ "Jeff Koons plagiarised French photographer for Naked sculpture". 9 March 2017.
  14. ^ Osterberg, Eric C. (2003). Substantial similarity in copyright law. Practising Law Institute. p. §1:1, 1–2. ISBN 1-4024-0341-0. With respect to the copying of individual elements, a defendant need not copy the entirety of the plaintiff's copyrighted work to infringe, and he need not copy verbatim.
  15. ^ Sheldon v. Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corporation (Court case). Vol. 81. F.2d 49. 1936-01-17 – via Court Listener. No plagiarist can excuse the wrong by showing how much of his work he did not pirate. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |agency= ignored (help)
  16. ^ Art Rogers, Plaintiff-Appellee-Cross-Appellant v. Jeff Koons Sonnabend Gallery, Inc., Defendants-Appellants-Cross-Appellees (Court case). Vol. 960. F.2d 301 Nos. 234, 388 and 235. 1992-04-02. Dockets 91-7396, 91-7442 and 91-7540 – via Court Listener. the copies they produced bettered the price of the copied work by a thousand to one, their piracy of a less well-known artist's work would escape being sullied by an accusation of plagiarism. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |agency= ignored (help)
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lynch02 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference Green2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ "The Difference Between Copyright Infringement and Plagiarism". 7 October 2013.
  20. ^ Introna, Lucas; Wood, Elspeth (August 2003). "Cultural attitudes towards plagiarism". University of Lancaster.
  21. ^ Liu, Xiaojing; Liu, Shijuan; Lee, Seung-hee; Magjuka, Richard J. (2010). "Cultural Differences in Online Learning: International Student Perceptions". Journal of Educational Technology & Society. 13 (3): 177–188. JSTOR jeductechsoci.13.3.177.