Plagiarism

I'm featuring this again because there is plagiarism on this site and this issue needs to be addressed.

 

 

Plagiarism

 

No this is not a sensationalist piece meant to garner ratings, but an honest article for any who may have questions or isn’t sure what plagiarism is.  Let’s face it, all writers have a silent code amongst ourselves in this and other writer’s communities, groups, clubs, and organizations, etc., and that is this:  Don’t plagiarize my work.

 

Most of us don’t feel the need to verbalize it since as I said there is a silent agreement, but there are those who feel the need to post warnings on their work, blogs or websites warning would-be word thieves what will happen to them and their various body parts if it is discovered that their work has been stolen.  The reason is simple; there is a very real fear of being plagiarized.

 

So the question arises; what exactly is plagiarism?  Many have opinions about what it means, and I could easily give you a list of some of those, but for the sake of not trying to confuse anyone or take up too much of your time with this article, here is what plagiarism actually is:

 

“Plagiarism is the practice of claiming or implying original authorship of (or incorporating material from) someone else's written or creative work, in whole or in part, into one's own without adequate acknowledgement. Unlike cases of forgery, in which the authenticity of the writing, document, or some other kind of object itself is in question, plagiarism is concerned with the issue of false attribution.”

 

Notice I used quotation marks?  That’s because that statement is not mine, but quoted from another source; that source to be exact - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism

 

Here’s is some more from that same webpage: (mentioning that this is from another source and then giving that source’s information is called a “citation”)

 

“Within academia, plagiarism by students, professors, or researchers is considered academic dishonesty or academic fraud and offenders are subject to academic censure. In journalism, plagiarism is considered a breach of journalistic ethics, and reporters caught plagiarizing typically face disciplinary measures ranging from suspension to termination. Some individuals caught plagiarizing in academic or journalistic contexts claim that they plagiarized unintentionally, by failing to include quotations or give the appropriate citation. While plagiarism in scholarship and journalism has a centuries-old history, the development of the Internet, where articles appear as electronic text, has made the physical act of copying the work of others much easier, simply by copying and pasting text from one web page to another.”

 

*The italics in the above paragraph were added by me for emphasis.

 

I would also like to add that you risk being forever blacklisted, which means that you will not be able to publish your work.  How is that possible you ask? Because publishers and editors share information like this amongst themselves.  So if one of them catches you giving yourself credit for something that someone else has written, they are going to make it their business to tell others about it.

 

Why you may ask? Because plagiarism is considered to be the lowest thing one writer can do to another. But more importantly for the publication, they risk being sued by the original author if they publish plagiarized material and worse than that, they risk being blacklisted themselves.  And in a business where reputation is everything, that is everything.  Besides being extremely unprofessional on the part of the writer, it breeds an atmosphere of distrust since when it is discovered no one is going to feel able to trust that you won’t do it again. 

 

Some may argue that there are no original ideas anymore and my opinion of such an argument is that whoever thinks that is probably someone I should watch out for, because there are original ideas and ways of taking something such as a love story and putting your own particular stamp on it. 

 

Examples:

 

1. Anne Rice took the age old story of the vampire and made it uniquely her own. How age old is it? Well according to the information found here: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~vampire/vhist.html , vampire myths go back thousands of years.  So even Bram Stoker, the author of “Dracula,” which was published in 1897 was borrowing the idea for his book from a legend.  Did he plagiarize it? No, and neither did Anne Rice.
2. “Star Wars,” and “Lord of the Rings,” along with quite a few other books borrow from the some of the oldest themes in writing; the hero on a quest, the romantic couple, the wizard, the dark lord, etc.  But each of those stories takes those familiar themes and then does something completely different with them.  If you want to read more about this other archetypes in literature, and also some basic literary elements, there’s more information about them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archetype#Archetypes_in_literature

and here: http://www.orangeusd.k12.ca.us/yorba/literary_elements.htm

 

I’m sure that after reading these lists you might be able to think of other examples in literature and movies that also fit those ideas. I’m pretty sure each one of us could come up with something uniquely our own using this page as a guide and create something that could only come from our imaginations and abilities. 

 

But the bottom line is still this:

 

There is no reason why you or anyone else who claims to be a writer can’t do the same thing. Which of course is what any writer who has the capacity and the imagination to write should be able to do.  If you still want to argue that there are no original ideas and use that as an excuse to steal work and ideas that aren’t your own, then perhaps writing isn’t the field for you. Seriously.  Try something else.

 

So the next time you want to quote a song or words from a movie or borrow anything from another writer’s work give the original author, composer, movie or whatever it is, their due.  Use quotation marks, mention the author’s name, use citations but for god’s sake don’t pretend that it’s your own original work.  For those of us who are poets and fiction writers, that goes the same for you too.  We aren’t immune from being blacklisted and publically heralded as thieves.

 

Hopefully now its clear what plagarism is, so for those who aren’t sure you have an explanation and to those who you are doing it, you have a warning.  You will be found out, because sooner or later these kinds of things are always found out.  You will ruin your reputation and any hopes of having a writing career of any kind.  So you may want to ask yourself a couple of questions:

 

1. Is the momentary attention that I’m receiving really worth losing my reputation as not only a writer, but also a honest human being really worth it?
2. Do I really want a writing career, which  means not only that I’m a serious writer, but also that I’m willing to live up to standards of journalistic professionalism?
3. Why am I doing this in the first place? If I’m a creative person then surely I must be able to come up with ideas of my own which come from me, my experiences, my abilities and my craft.

 

In the end its up to each one of us to decide what we want to do.  Ignorance isn’t an excuse,  there is no excuse for plagiarizing someone else’s work.

Reviews

[Jenny Davis]

Well first off, hats off to you for having the courage to say this as it is on the tip of everyone's tongue yet we all seem to go mute when there is time to get right down to brass tax!! You have said EVERYTHING that makes sense in terms of what a plagiarist is and God loves everyone, but this issue is really a thorn in my side. I was a victim once and when I contacted the website they did NOTHING! I sent a cease and desist letter and finally they took it down. It is both offensive and in BAD TASTE to copy other's writings...online or off, and take credit for it yourself...it is a shameful act and shouldn't be tolerated. A writer puts his or her blood, sweat and tears into what they create and to have it stolen is hurtful to say the least. I agree with you in saying that people CAN and SHOULD be able to write something on their own because like you said, if they can't they shouldn't be writing! Bravo, cheers, well done and all that other fun stuff...You did this professionally, you are a REAL writer! :)

PS- The picture is phenom. ;)

[Jenny Davis]

WHEN PLAGIARISM BECAME AN OFFENSE: 18th Century

Ben Johnson was the first person to use the word "plagiary" in English to denote literary theft. (In classical times, writes Mallon, "a 'plagiary' had been one who kidnapped a child or slave.") Plagiarism finally came to be regarded as a crime, in effect, in the 18th century, at a time when originality -- "not just innocence of plagiarism but the making of something really and truly new" -- was prized.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCES


Thomas Mallon, Stolen Words

Marilyn Randall, Pragmatic Plagiarism

http://hnn.us/articles/569.html

[hyancynthstofeedthysoul]

Is plagiarism a crime?

Good question. Here is a good answer.

http://plagiarismguide.blogspot.com/2007/12/plagiarism-is-not-crime.html

[Melanie Jane Boicourt S..]

Very nicely written. It is also nice to see plagiarism clearly defined. Since the crash I put some things on here that I had wrote a long time ago that I wasn't sure I wanted to expose for that reason. It is scary putting your work out in the open. Even though I have safeguarded it, It still would be a costly battle to prove that someone stole my material. I hope this will enlighten people to what the risks are. Thank you for sharing.
Love All,
Mejasha

[Pauline Ramsey]

Well put Rachel! I commend your honesty and your lack of plagarism. LOL. I'm just pokin' fun there, but seriously, it really is a hassel and it's an atrocity when someone decides that they want to steal someone else's work. That to me shows very little creativity and it shows an utter lack of concern for the original author of the piece or pieces in question.

To me, as well as to everyone else who's a writer and author, plagarism is a heinous crime. Yes, it is a crime! Someone who plagarizes can be sued for all that they're worth. Most of those who do it are nobody's really and they'd end up bankrupt by the end of a court proceeding. Now here's the real question: Is it really worth losing everything over? Personally, in my opinion, I don't think it is.

And you were absolutely correct when it comes to landing on possible publishers as well! If, for instance, Jaded Silence Press published something that was a plagarized piece without knowing it, it was discredit us as publishers, blacklist us from possible growth with other writers and novel authors and do harm to the little company, despite not having that knowledge of the piece prior to publication. That to me seems unfair to someone else who has started up a company to help other authors achieve their dreams as well as their own.

The way I see it: Don't f**k up someone else's life, career, hopes and dreams just because you can't think up an original idea of your own.

[Gary H]

Two things that make me breathe a sigh of relief here are that I can't spell the word 'plaguerism' properly and the world would have to be completely devoid of ideas before anyone did such a thing as steal any of my words.
Seriously though, this is a problem. Here's a short story about my experiences about the plague......one day I decided I wanted to start on a writing course. I enroled and set off to the first class to be met by at least nine or ten others who had ambitions of being a super star writer. I didn't so this bothered me straight away. Going off with homework that night I found myself having to write a poem to take to read to a group of analysing strangers the next week. I wrote one about a tree but that is irrelevant. The time arrived and I sat nervously in class. My time came and went, I blushed and struggled to read my four stanzas and everyone politely murmoured at the end - 'He'll never be a writer' - I'm sure I heard that - no, actually that came from someone on this site!
Anyway, a few readers later, a most wonderful poem was read and we all were amazed - me especially being a novice and the teacher's eyes had lit up. That was it. The first poem written and read by each of us was now over and done with and this was the target one to look up to.
A couple of weeks into the course the numbers had dwindled down to about four of us. We were keen and just thought those that had left were above the 'learning experience' stage.
Some months later just two of us turned up - one being Thomas Dylan (also on this site) - we were helping the teacher go through his mass of poem collections from all the lessons. Now Thomas had missed the first get together. He came across the 'wonderful' poem, named the author and I suddenly both the teacher and myself realised we had been duped. The poem had been stolen.
I only write this because I just find the situation worth relating at how low people can stoop to get recognition and kudos. And I'm left wondering what was the point of reading someone elses work on a new writing course when I sat and struggled to piece a few words together for many months......and still do. The only thing I learnt was the power of that word I can't spell properly!!
Just thought this might amaze you!

[Lydia Shutter]

Absolutely on the mark! There is no excuse and there are stiff penalties for plagiarists. Besides, how must the plagiarist feel when someone commends his or her work? The praise would be empty indeed...and really not praise at all. Thank you for taking the time to research this topic and bring it to the table. lydia

[T. R. Writer]

Excellent, excellent article. I think I have been blessed to have had English teachers in high school and college professors throughout my college career beat me across the head with a stick about what plagarism is. Your article actually makes me appreciate all the research papers I wrote in graduate school that my professors had us turn in to turnitin.com to make sure that no plagarism was there. Also, I liked your part about archetypes... I have a great book on creating characters based on different archetypes... and the book, 20 Master Plots talks about how there are basically 20 main stories being told, but with a little twist and different point of view thousands of stories can be told from the 20... like boy and girl fall in love, but their family hates each other (Juliet) or boy and girl fall in love, but one is married and/or from a different ehnicity like in Othello. I am glad you wrote this article to help clarify some issues. You did it in a way that was very clear and precise.

[Genie]

Thanks for this, Rachel! This or something of its kind should, imo, be part of the agreement each writer acknowledges when signing on for membership at the Cafe. Not only is it informative and well done, your article teaches some of the professional specifics and ethics that most writers' courses in high school and college don't.

For music fans, it's worth noting that even composers sometimes 'quote' each other in their compositions, songs, symphonies, arias, etc. If a passage of one composer and/or songwriter sounds familiar in another's work, it probably is! But they always do so with permission and full attribution. It's not as obvious anymore in the classical realm of music, but if one reads the liner notes of contemporary musicians, you'll see the attributions and acknowledgments all over the place.

And for Carole and others who are wondering about the specs for indenting quotations: anything over 3 lines of text gets indented and single-spaced. It still gets footnoted in the same way shorter quotes do. There is no typical limitation to length, altho long quotations are discouraged in academic papers because you're supposed to present your own work, not that of others. In academic writing, advisors may set limits on how much can be quoted, but that's an individual question. Hope that helps!

Thank you, Rachel!

[oneZtwoLLs]

Your piece was very informative. If you don't mind, I'd like to add my two cents: If writers use someone else's works in publication, they must not only give credit to the source, but they must have the original writer's permission as well. Since I've been around writing for years, I naively assumed everyone knew the rules. I'm glad you took the initiative to write on the topic. It has obviously been well received and has touched many people. Bravo.

[BrightEyes]

this is an excellent article - very informative - also a great example for others to use if they are going to borrow information from another author or outside source - I would add one thing to this perhaps - although not exactly plaguarism - common professional courtesy from one writer to another....if you read someone's work - and you do borrow that idea and it is obvious that your work was inspired by that of another - at least garner a mention that you read this piece by this person - and it inspired your work. I've seen pieces posted here that I could pinpoint what they'd read and where the original idea came from if asked to - I don't want to go into specifics here, however. I hope that makes sense lol.

laura