Internet Plagiarism: By Vivian Britton
Internet Plagiarism
Your Rights and ResponsibilitiesMention the word plagiarism, and thoughts of college students frantically copying and pasting copyrighted material for term papers readily comes to mind. Indeed, with the advent of Internet access for all, plagiarism has become a growing pestilence in the world of academia. So much so that the hallowed halls of knowledge are now doing everything from utilizing plagiarism detection software to appointing judicial boards to hear cases. Above all, clear policies are laid out explaining what plagiarism is, and the relatively easy steps one can take to avoid it.
But academia isn't the only venue suffering from this parasitic activity. From public forums to personal web sites, the Internet has made it possible for folks to gain access to a whole world of knowledge on a scale unthinkable to past generations. No one can deny the web's benefits, but easy access has also opened the door to unscrupulous, vampiric types who have no qualms sucking the literary soul from their unsuspecting hosts.
I'm afraid there's more to plagiarism than the blatant copy and paste phenomena most of us are familiar with. So what exactly is plagiarism, you ask? The word plagiarism stems from the Latin root, to steal. I personally prefer using the words, to suck, as the non-academic plagiarizer is naught but an empty vessel who must feed off the genius of others to mask his own inferiority and lack of original thought. He is a vile, parasitic fiend who cares neither for his host or the public he so willingly deceives.
Having said that, there are many ways of defining and detecting plagiarism, but it pretty much all comes down to this: In a fraudulent nutshell, you commit plagiarism when you suck the original mental juice from someone else and attempt to spew it forth as your own without so much as swallowing first.
Or, for a less colorful description, the legal definition per Nolo.com is: "Passing off someone else's work as your own, whether word for word or merely the creative ideas. This can amount to copyright infringement if permission has not been obtained from the copyright owner for use of the expressive elements of the work. Even if permission is granted, putting your name on someone else's work is still plagiarism and is unethical within artistic, scientific, academic and political communities."
A few words from the above paragraphs may have piqued your interest by now (at least I hope they have). Those words are original and creative, and they are key to recognizing and avoiding plagiarism. To fully understand the concept, you must first familiarize yourself with common knowledge:
Example of common knowledge: Plagiarism is using the words, style, line of thought and/or ideas of someone else without giving them any acknowledgement.
This is well known, general (common) knowledge based on facts known to a large number of people, and has become part of man's collective consciousness, if you will. Therefore, there is no need to cite the source or use quotations unless you have lifted a direct, verbatim quote. Per the Chicago Manual of Style, there's no need to use quotations on well-known biblical or literary expressions either.
Contrast common knowledge with the same information interpreted in an original way:
Example of Original work: The willful plagiarist is the psychic vampire of the literary world. He leaches off the creative spark of his victim, thereby extinguishing it. (The Enlightened Misanthrope)
Here, the author has interpreted common knowledge in his own, original style. If you absolutely must use this author's creative interpretation and metaphor in your own work, even if paraphrased, you must cite him if you want to avoid the scarlet letter of plagiarism. Better yet, why not develop your own creative style of writing? You'll find after reading enough sources and writing a good deal eventually you'll find you're own inner voice.
Scholars have identified five different types of plagiarism. Per Dr. C Barnbaum of Valdosta State University, they are:
Type 1. Copy and Paste
Type 2. Word Switch
Type 3. Style
Type 4. Metaphor
Type 5. Idea
For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to focus on three levels of plagiarism most likely to be recognized and encountered in Internet venues: outright, substantial, and minimal. Outright plagiarism would certainly encompass copy and paste, which is simply stealing part or all of someone else's work, word for word (verbatim). The college student who buys a term paper from a literary house of prostitution, then submits it as his own work is a fine example. Included in this category would be the lifting of an artistic work in its entirety, say, an original Photoshop signature. Obviously, copy and paste is the easiest form of plagiarism to detect and prosecute, but most abusers avoid it for this very reason.
Substantial plagiarizing would include word switch, or paraphrasing, and occurs when the plagiarizer moves and/or changes a word or two but maintains the original idea of the source. This is the most common trap folks fall into. The plagiarizer may have inserted a few words of his own, or moved around a few sentences, but isn't fooling anyone; least of all the person whose original material was lifted, mutilated, and plagiarized.
By now you're probably wondering how the heck you'll ever publish anything original in appearance if all your paraphrased material is in question. But fear not, for there is a completely acceptable method of paraphrasing without plagiarizing. First of all, remind yourself that much of what you'll come across is considered common knowledge, and therefore not something you need worry about quoting.
But watch out for common knowledge an individual has interpreted in an original way (see example of original work above). Make sure you digest his source material completely, walk away from it, then regurgitate the material with your own distinct words, line of thought, and most importantly-style. Now you no longer have to use a quote tag because you've put the idea into your own words. HOWEVER, you still need to acknowledge the original source of the idea/interpretation by citing the author.
Outside of the scholarly/professional setting this could be as simple as following your paraphrase with the author's name in parenthesis, or at least acknowledging the source somewhere in your work. If you cite several works and prefer a cleaner appearance, you could do what the pros do, which looks something like this:
Example: "The willful plagiarist is the psychic vampire of the literary world. He leaches off the creative spark of his victim, thereby extinguishing it." (2) Then, at the bottom of your post/article/work, you would list your documentation:
Notes: 2. The Enlightened Misanthrope, Memoirs of an Enlightened Misanthrope; Silly Person Publishing, 2005. Accessed online February 12, 2007.
And lastly, we have minimal plagiarism (per westmont.edu), which is defined as the following, without citing the source:
· inserting verbatim phrases of 2-3 distinctive words.
· substituting synonyms into the original sentence rather than rewriting the complete sentence.
· reordering the clauses of a sentence.
· imitating the sentence, paragraph, or organizational structure, or writing style of a source (Saupe, 1998; Student Judicial Affairs, UCD, 1999).
· using a source's line of logic, thesis or ideas.
Within this category I would also include the imitation of metaphors, as previously noted per Dr.C Barnbaum. Now, when the plagiarist repeatedly engages in minimal plagiarism, it moves up a notch to the category of substantial. So, if you think you can pull one over with incremental lifts you assume no one will notice, think again. It's of note that only 10% of an original work needs to be copied to be considered substantial, and thereby constitute copyright infringement.
Now - down to the nitty gritty: plagiarism does not specifically appear in federal statutes, but that doesn'tt mean you can't file suit against the parasite who attempts to take credit for your creativity. Plagiarism is not only unethical, it is illegal, and you have every right to maintain control over how your ideas are used and presented.
I will not go into the details of copyright and fair use here. Suffice it to say, if you feel the plagiarism falls within the realm of copyright infringement, it may be time to seek council. In a venue where all we have are our words and images, these things, in essence - define who we are. To that end alone the plagiarist is worse than a blood-sucking parasite. He is soul-sucker; a virulent disease to be eradicated, lest he contaminate and compromise the integrity of all venues that claim to promote original thought and creativity.
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