Plagiarism?

Question

I see a lot of people, mainly on the science boards, pasting answers stuff from straight from the internet without quoting it. Isn't that illegal? Shouldn't there be a rule about that? It just seems even weirder that these people often get high ratings for their answers.

Sorry about the messed up sentence up there.

You guys are telling me that there are rules, but why can't we report for abuse someone who does it?

Answer 1

This is a very good question, and one that me and other YA users have asked of the YA Team several times (you can go to the Forum - link in the upper right corner of this screen - and check for discussion threads on this subject).

Sadly, the YAT have never issued a clear statement on the subject; we don' t have any specific rules about what is and is not allowed here, and so far, 'Plagiarism' is not an abuse category.

They do consider it wrong if one copies an answer from another person, but not from anywhere else. And of course, it's so easy to copy, that these "answers", lengthy copypasted texts that sometimes don't even address the question, abound in YA.

Copying a text without attributing the sources is violating somebody's intellectual rights. It doesn't matter if the site is open and its content is free to use, the SOURCE has to be mentioned. The concept of legal/illegal will depend on local law systems, but it is ethically wrong.

What concerns me the most is that there are young people here seeing this done, and doing it themselves, and getting the notion that this is OK. In fact, in the real world and especially in academic situations, plagiarism is a very serious offense, and can ruin a professional career.

I wish the YA Guidelines included something like the following pamphlet (from Indiana University):
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml

Answer 2

It's not illegal. It's just unethical. That's taking credit for other people's work.

It's also lame. A link is usually better because the original text may have had some illustrations, or other links.

However, it can often backfire. If you plagiarize something that turns out to be demonstrably wrong, and you don't attribute the source, then you get to own the full blame. (I nailed a creationist for a *blatant* misquotation of Richard Dawkins the other day, and it turns out that he was copying the misquotation word-for-word from some web site.)

I also see people copy-paste things that they clearly do not understand.

The reason they sometimes get high ratings, is that other people often have no way of recognizing an uncredited plagiarism. I can usually (but not always) spot them a mile away ... but it took me some time to get there.

If you suspect a piece of plagiarism, enter a few key words into a Google window, and see if it turns up. If it does, nail the poster for it. Plagiarism is pretty low.

I agree that "uncredited plagiarism" should be one of the categories of Abuse. I suspect that the reason it's not one of the options is that this puts a heavy burden on the YA staff to have to verify the plagiarism.

Answer 3

I would agree that copying material for use in an answer is plagiarism.

One might also ask about all the people who are submitting questions that sound suspiciously like a homework assignment. How many students will be going back to school on Tuesday and "citing their source" for each of the problems they hand in, as if it was their own work? Probably none. But it is plagiarism, just the same.

Answer 4

hi, i imagine that plagiarism isn't good. I actual have used prices and stated that they don't seem mine and given the credit to the individuals whom have arise with it. the line is crossed once you make the most of each singe little element, regardless of in case you adjust some words the following and there to make it seem diverse it remains not good. in school we ought to signal an settlement sheet for all assignments, that asserts that we've arise with this ourselves and if we are stuck copying different peoples works (playgiarism) the we get no marks only a huge fat 0. i imagine it really is honest because then it is your fault for not having your artwork. Having a orignal that you've arise with your self is a best theory. Dont go taking some1 elses artwork and allways attempt to make each thing your man or woman! desire that helped Love Tania (;

Answer 5

You are right, copy pasting propriated stuff is illegal. That means, you cannot just copy and paste stuff from an internet website which is copyrighted in your answer and claim that its yours. Thats plaigarism.

However, if the content is copyrighted under the creative commons licence then you are allowed to use the content in whichever way you please. But most of the material on commercial websites is not under creative commons.

The proper way to use stuff from the internet is to quote it and give a reference link.

Answer 6

Anything used should state the source it cam from. It is plagiarism if you are using someone elses info and claiming as it as your own. When I was in college many people got expelled because of this. You are right this is somsething that needs to be addressed.

Answer 7

There are rules but they are not always followed. If you use a web site it should be cited properly with its URL and any text that you have used should be in quotes with the proper citation.

Answer 8

Is not illegal, the school system made it illegal.