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Copyright and Plagiarism Explained: What You Need to Know

In the world of content creation, dealing with plagiarism and copyright infringement issues can happen to anyone. This is especially true in today’s digital age, where it’s easy to take something from the internet, make small changes, and claim it as your own.

Although plagiarism and copyright infringement are different concepts, people often get confused as both involve presenting someone else’s work as your own. Whether you’re using the internet or the library for research, understanding copyright and plagiarism is essential to steer clear of trouble.

This guide breaks down the differences between the two, explores their nuances, discusses consequences, and provides practical tips to avoid them. We’ll also touch briefly on how AI relates to copyright and plagiarism, offering a forward-looking perspective on these critical issues.

• Copyright is a legal concept designed to protect the rights of creators for their original works.

Plagiarism is the act of presenting someone else’s ideas, words, or work as your own without giving them proper credit.

• It’s important to always provide accurate and complete citations for any information or ideas borrowed from other sources.

Table of Contents

What Are The Differences Between Copyright and Plagiarism?

When you create something, whether it’s an article, image, or video, copyright automatically protects it. Picture it as a safety net that grants you exclusive rights over your creation.

These rights, however, are not eternal and they only offer protection for a specific timeframe. After that, your work enters the public domain for everyone to use.

On the flip side, there’s plagiarism, the less desirable counterpart. Plagiarism occurs when someone presents another’s work as their own.

Not only is plagiarism frowned upon in the digital community, but it can also lead to legal consequences. In essence, plagiarism undermines the principles of authenticity and originality.

To make the distinctions clear, let’s examine the key differences through a comparison table:

Copyright serves as more than mere rules, it acts as a tool, granting you authority over the future of your content. On the other hand, plagiarism is like a shortcut that inevitably leads to a professional dead end.

Steer clear of plagiarism, and allow your work to stand as a testament to your professional honesty. Keep it genuine, and your professional integrity will resonate strongly.

What is Copyright?

Copyright is a legal concept designed to protect the rights of creators for their original works. It provides creators with exclusive rights to control the use, distribution, and reproduction of their creations. 

Copyright helps with creativity, encourages new ideas, and makes sure people who put effort into making things get to keep their rights.

In the United States, the legal foundation for copyright is deeply rooted in the U.S. Constitution, which empowers Congress to grant authors and inventors exclusive rights for a limited time. The details of copyright law are further outlined in the Copyright Act, providing a comprehensive framework for the protection of various forms of creative expression.

Balancing the rights of creators and the public is essential in copyright. Instead of being like an impenetrable fortress, copyright aims for a fair middle ground.

One important thing to note is that copyright doesn’t last forever. It has a time limit, so creative works don’t stay under control forever. 

This intentional limit means that eventually, these works become available to everyone in the public domain. It’s like opening the door to let society freely enjoy and benefit from these creations.

The main idea behind this is to find a balance where creators are protected during their active years, giving them credit for their hard work and promoting continuous innovation. As time goes on, their works eventually become available to the public, becoming part of our shared cultural heritage.

This process acknowledges two goals: supporting creativity and making sure the benefits of creativity are shared with everyone. 

Now, let’s unpack the various types of works that fall under the protective umbrella of copyright, each with its considerations.

Literary Works

This category blankets a wide array of written content, including books, articles, and textual compositions. Authors wield copyright protection here, securing their exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and showcase their written creations.

Visual Arts

Moving to the visual arts, this category spans paintings, drawings, and photographs. Visual artists enjoy copyright protection, safeguarding their right to manage the reproduction and public display of their visual expressions, preserving the authenticity of their creative output.

Performing Arts

Next is the performing arts, which includes both live and recorded performances. This broad category ensures performers and creators retain control over the reproduction and public dissemination of their live or recorded acts, emphasizing the significance of their creative contributions.

Sound Recordings

Sound recordings, involving the protection of recorded sounds and music, form another important facet of copyright. Musicians and record producers find strength in copyright protection, allowing them to govern the use and distribution of their recorded musical creations.

Architectural Works

Lastly, architectural works cover the design and structure of buildings. Architects, as copyright holders, maintain authority over the reproduction and distribution of their architectural designs, affirming the respect owed to their creative pursuits. 

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is a breach of academic and ethical integrity. This includes various forms such as direct copying, paraphrasing without attribution, mosaic or patchwork plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and even unintentional plagiarism.

Understanding and avoiding plagiarism is important in maintaining honesty and upholding ethical standards in academic and professional settings.

Now, let’s explore the various forms of plagiarism to understand its implications. 

Copy-and-Paste Plagiarism

This is the straightforward act of copying someone else’s work and presenting it as your own. It can involve entire paragraphs, sentences, or even just a few words.

Paraphrasing Plagiarism

Changing the words of a source while retaining the original meaning is still considered plagiarism if proper credit is not given. It’s not just about swapping words but understanding and presenting the ideas in your own unique way.

Mosaic or Patchwork Plagiarism

This sneaky form involves combining bits and pieces from various sources to create a seemingly original piece. It can be a mix of copied text and slightly modified content, creating a mosaic of information without proper attribution.

Self-Plagiarism

Self-plagiarism involves the reuse of your previously published content or portions of it, presented as new and original work. While not illegal, self-plagiarism is considered unprofessional and unethical and includes actions like submitting entire papers that have been previously published.

Accidental Unintentional Plagiarism

Unintentional plagiarism occurs when proper citation practices are not followed due to a lack of understanding rather than an intentional effort to deceive. It’s important to educate oneself on proper citation methods to avoid accidental unintentional plagiarism.

How Do You Prevent Copyright and Plagiarism Violations?

Maintaining integrity in content creation involves being proactive in preventing both copyright infringement and plagiarism. Here are practical tips and tools to ensure you steer clear of both.

How to Avoid Infringing Copyright?

Before sharing prevention tips, let’s address a common question: Is infringing copyright the same as theft? While copyright infringement and theft share similarities in depriving the owner of the benefits of their creation, they differ in legal terms.

Copyright infringement pertains specifically to the unauthorized use of copyrighted material, whereas theft typically involves physical deprivation of property.

Now, let’s explore ways to sidestep copyright infringement:

• Understand Fair Use : Familiarize yourself with fair use guidelines and respect the limitations and exceptions for using copyrighted material.
• Use Licensed Content : Choose content with proper licensing, ensuring you have the right to use and share it in your work.
• Seek Permission : When uncertain, obtain explicit permission from the copyright owner before using their material.
• Utilize Creative Commons Licenses : Leverage content under Creative Commons licenses, which provide clear guidelines for usage.
• Explore Public Domain Works : Incorporate works that are in the public domain, as they are free from copyright restrictions.

How to Avoid Committing Plagiarism?

Now, moving to plagiarism prevention, let’s ensure that the ideas and words you use are rightfully attributed to their origin. Here’s a guide to avoiding plagiarism:

• Proper Citation : Always provide accurate and complete citations for any information or ideas borrowed from other sources.
• Effective Paraphrasing : Practice effective paraphrasing to convey ideas in your own words while retaining the original meaning.
• Use Plagiarism Detection Tools : Employ plagiarism detection tools to check your work for potential instances of unintentional plagiarism.
• Educate Yourself : Stay informed about the principles of plagiarism. Many educational institutions offer resources and tutorials to help you understand and avoid plagiarism.

By adhering to these preventive measures, you can ensure your creative and academic endeavors are both ethically sound and legally compliant. 

How Do You Resolve Copyright and Plagiarism Violations?

Encountering copyright and plagiarism violations requires a thoughtful and strategic approach to address the issues responsibly. Here are steps and strategies for resolving these matters while considering both legal and ethical considerations.

Resolving Copyright Violations

• Cease Unauthorized Use : Immediately stop using the copyrighted material without proper authorization. Stopping unauthorized use is the first step toward rectification.
• Open Communication : If possible, reach out to the copyright owner or creator. Explain the situation, acknowledge the infringement, and express a commitment to resolving the issue.
• Obtain Permission : Seek permission from the copyright owner for the continued use of the material. This may involve negotiating a licensing agreement or obtaining explicit consent.
• Comply with DMCA Takedown Notices : If a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice has been issued, comply with the request promptly. Remove the infringing content from online platforms to avoid legal consequences.
• Provide Proper Attribution : If attribution was lacking or incorrect, rectify this by providing proper credit to the original creator. Acknowledging the source is an essential step in addressing copyright violations.

Resolving Plagiarism Violations

• Acknowledge the Plagiarism : Acknowledge the act of plagiarism. Understand that it is a serious ethical breach and take responsibility for the improper use of someone else’s work.
• Offer Open Communication : Offer to communicate openly with the affected parties. Explain the circumstances, apologize for the plagiarism, and express a commitment to resolving the concern.
• Rectify the Issue : Immediately rectify the issue by providing proper attribution to the original source. Clearly indicate where the borrowed material begins and ends.
• Learn and Educate: Educate yourself about proper citation practices and academic integrity. Use the experience as an opportunity to grow and ensure that future work adheres to ethical standards.
• Follow Institutional Procedures : In an academic setting, follow the established procedures outlined by the institution for addressing plagiarism. This may involve reporting the incident to professors, academic boards, or other relevant authorities.
• Face Academic Consequences : If there are academic consequences, such as failing grades, work collaboratively with instructors or academic advisors. Follow any recommended steps for academic redemption.

For both copyright infringement and plagiarism issues, if legal consequences are looming, consult with legal professionals to understand the potential implications and explore options for resolution.

Taking immediate action, demonstrating genuine remorse, and actively working to resolve the violation are essential steps if you find yourself in violation of copyright or guilty of plagiarism. Open communication and a commitment to learning from the experience can also contribute to a more constructive resolution.

Consequences of Copyright and Plagiarism Violations

Understanding the consequences of copyright infringement and plagiarism is essential to promoting ethical behavior and upholding legal standards in creative and academic endeavors. Adhering to proper practices not only protects individual reputations but also contributes to a culture of integrity and respect for intellectual property.

Consequences of Copyright Infringement

Copyright infringement carries significant legal implications. Individuals or entities found guilty of this offense may face financial penalties, including fines and damages awarded to the copyright owner.

Courts have the authority to issue injunctions, restraining the infringing party from further using or distributing the copyrighted material without proper authorization. In severe cases, copyright infringement can escalate to criminal charges, potentially leading to imprisonment for the violators.

Additionally, online platforms may swiftly respond to a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice by removing infringing content, thereby impacting the violator’s online presence.

These legal consequences emphasize the importance of respecting intellectual property rights and adhering to copyright laws to avoid severe penalties and legal actions.

Consequences of Plagiarism

Plagiarism has multifaceted implications, primarily rooted in ethical, academic, and professional settings.

Ethically, engaging in plagiarism can inflict substantial damage on one’s personal and professional reputation. It destroys trust and gives rise to questions about an individual’s integrity.

Plagiarism also carries severe consequences within academic settings, including the potential for failure in assignments, and courses, or even expulsion from educational institutions. Academic disciplinary actions, such as notations on transcripts, further underscore the gravity of this ethical breach and can leave lasting marks on an individual’s academic record.

Committing plagiarism can hinder your professional progress, as employers may view it as a significant breach of trust. This perception could result in job loss or missed career opportunities, stopping your growth in your chosen field.

Moreover, in professions with strict ethical standards, plagiarism might lead to legal action or professional penalties.

What is the Impact of AI on Copyright and Plagiarism?

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the realms of copyright and plagiarism has ushered in transformative changes, showcasing a dual-edged nature that both challenges and enhances the landscape.

Let’s get into the finer details of this matter.

Detection of Plagiarism

AI in plagiarism detection has significantly improved efficiency and accuracy. These tools analyze large amounts of data with precision, accelerating the identification process for educators, publishers, and content creators.

AI is adept at cross-language detection, enhancing plagiarism prevention by addressing challenges in identifying copied content within translated materials. This boosts the overall reliability of plagiarism detection.

Additionally, AI enables real-time monitoring of digital content, providing instant feedback to key stakeholders. This proactive approach intervenes promptly and prevents potential plagiarism issues, creating a responsive system.

However, integrating AI into plagiarism detection has challenges.

Dependence on automated tools may yield false positives due to AI’s struggle with understanding context and intent. Human oversight is still essential, emphasizing the need for a balanced and collaborative approach.

As AI evolves, plagiarists adapt to these algorithms, employing sophisticated techniques to evade detection. This ongoing dynamic underscores the importance of vigilance and continuous refinement of both AI tools and human oversight to preserve the integrity of content creation and academic pursuits.

Content Creation and Copyright

AI can have a positive impact on content creation and copyright by helping creators, including writers and journalists, to efficiently produce original content. This streamlining of the creative process contributes to diverse and dynamic content across platforms.

AI also supports data-driven decision-making for content creators by analyzing trends, audience behavior, and market preferences. This approach enhances the creation of content aligned with audience interests, providing a more personalized user experience.

However, the integration of AI in content creation poses challenges, particularly regarding ownership and attribution. Questions arise about rightful ownership and proper attribution of content generated by AI, leading to potential copyright issues and requiring careful consideration of legal frameworks.

Additionally, there is a challenge of automated plagiarism in AI-generated content. When AI-generated content is repurposed without proper attribution, ethical concerns arise.

Addressing this challenge involves maintaining a balance between innovation and ensuring ethical use, emphasizing the need for ongoing discussions and guidelines in the evolving landscape of AI-driven content creation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between copyright and plagiarism.

Copyright pertains to legal ownership and exclusive rights over creative works, while plagiarism involves presenting someone else’s ideas or work as your own without proper attribution.

How can you prevent copyright infringement?

Preventing copyright infringement requires an understanding of fair use guidelines, using licensed content, seeking permission when necessary, and respecting copyright laws and regulations.

What are the consequences of committing plagiarism?

Consequences of plagiarism include damage to personal and professional reputation, academic penalties such as failing grades or expulsion, and potential legal and professional repercussions.

How can you avoid committing plagiarism in your work?

To avoid plagiarism, make sure you provide proper citations of sources, practice effective paraphrasing, utilize plagiarism detection tools, manage your time effectively, and stay informed about plagiarism guidelines and principles.

What steps can you take to resolve copyright and plagiarism violations?

Steps to resolve violations include acknowledging the issue, seeking legal advice if necessary, addressing the violation ethically and responsibly, and taking corrective actions to rectify the situation.

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The Difference Between Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement

Photo Credit:  iStock/Olivier Le Moal

There are many differences between plagiarism and copyright infringement, yet it can be easy to confuse these concepts. While both plagiarism and copyright infringement can be characterized as the improper use of someone else’s work, they are distinctly different improper uses of someone else’s work. The biggest difference is that copyright infringement is illegal, while plagiarism is not. This blog post discusses additional differences between the two and provides examples of each type of improper use.

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism occurs when a party attempts to pass someone else’s work or ideas off as their own, without properly giving credit to the original source. Plagiarism, while not against the law, is an ethical construct most commonly enforced by academic intuitions. Consequences of academic plagiarism may range from receiving a failing grade all the way to the revocation of a degree.

Plagiarism is not just limited to the academic setting. In the professional world, plagiarism has its own set of consequences, which may include sullying the plagiarizer’s reputation and in some instances termination and difficulty finding new employment. For example, in 2014 CNN fired a London-based news editor for repeated plagiarism offenses over a six month period, involving a total of 128 separate instances of plagiarism, mostly taken from Reuters.

What is Copyright Infringement?

Copyright, at its core, is the set of rights belonging to the creator or owner of a work of authorship that is original and fixed in a tangible medium of expression . This set of rights automatically vests to someone who creates an original work of authorship like a song, literary work, movie, or photograph. These rights allow a copyright owner to control who, when, where, and how their work is used, such as through the right to reproduce the work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies, and to perform and display the work publicly.

Copyright infringement occurs when a party takes an action that implicates one or more of the rights listed above without authorization from the copyright owner or an applicable exception or limitation in the copyright law, such as fair use . There can be significant legal consequences for copyright infringement, including injunctions, monetary damages, and in extreme instances criminal penalties.

Comparing Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement: Examples

The examples below illustrate some of the differences between plagiarism and copyright infringement.

Plagiarism But Not Copyright Infringement: A student copies a few sentences of a 20-page book illustrating and describing species of birds to use in article on evolution submitted for her high school newspaper but fails to provide a citation or footnote explaining that the information came from the book. This student may have committed plagiarism by not properly attributing the information and making it seem like the information originated from the student. However, the student will most likely not be found to have committed copyright infringement because such an inconsequential amount was used in an educational setting in a manner that is unlikely to harm the authors market for the work that the use is likely a fair use.

Copyright Infringement but Not Plagiarism: This time, the high school student copies the entire bird species book that she includes in several article published in the paper, but she puts a citation at the bottom of each article that includes the author’s name, the title of the book, and how the entire article is taken directly from the book. While the student properly attributed the author and did not try to pass the article off as her own work, she copied the entire work without permission, which likely infringes the author’s rights under copyright law.

Both Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement: A young writer, hoping to be published, copies line for line a popular wizard book series. The young writer sends the work to her publisher and says she wrote it. This author has committed plagiarism by submitting someone else’s work as her own and, in addition, has committed copyright infringement by copying someone else’s protected work without permission.

So, What’s the Difference Between Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement?

While it can be difficult to discern the differences between plagiarism and copyright infringement, in short, plagiarism is an ethical violation that occurs most often in academic situations when a party takes credits for work that was not of their own authorship while copyright infringements occur when a party copies, reproduces, distributes, displays or performs, or makes a derivate version of a protected work without permission of the copyright owner or the law. As noted above, there are also instances where an act can be both plagiarism and infringement. For more information about copyright protection, fair use, or any of the other topics discussed above, please visit the Copyright Alliance’s FAQ pages .

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Copyright Infringement vs. Plagiarism

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Plagiarism is using creative work without  attribution  (giving proper credit). Plagiarism is using someone else's words (or other creative output) and not giving them proper credit, suggesting that the words are your own. We cite sources to avoid plagiarism and provide attribution for quotations and paraphrasing in our work.

Copyright infringement is using creative work without  permission.  Copyright infringement happens whenever we use someone else's creative work without their permission. Does that mean that, every time we quote someone in our papers, we need to ask for their permission?  No.  This is because the copyright law has a concept called  fair use  built into it. More information is provided about fair use through this guide, but the kind of quoting that you would do in a paper would nearly always be a fair use.

So, it is possible to plagiarize without infringing copyright. It is also possible to infringe copyright without plagiarizing. 

CC-BY-SA: McHenry County College Library

How is copyright related to plagiarism?

Plagiarism is best defined as the unacknowledged use of another person’s work. It is an ethical issue involving a claim of credit for work that the claimant did not create. One can plagiarize someone else’s work regardless of the copyright status of that work. For example, it is nonetheless plagiarism to copy from a book or article that is too old to still be under copyright. It is also plagiarism to use data taken from an unacknowledged source, even though factual material like data may not be protected by copyright. Plagiarism, however, is easily cured – proper citation to the original source of the material.

Copyright infringement, on the other hand, is the unauthorized use of another’s work. This is a legal issue that depends on whether or not the work is protected by copyright in the first place, as well as on specifics like how much is used and the purpose of the use. If one copies too much of a protected work, or copies for an unauthorized purpose, simply acknowledging the original source will not solve the problem. Only by seeking prior permission from the copyright holder does one avoid the risk of an infringement charge.

What if I just take an idea from another source but do not copy the words?

Copyright does not protect ideas, only the specific expression of an idea. For example, a court decided that Dan Brown did not infringe the copyright of an earlier book when he wrote The Da Vinci Code because all he borrowed from the earlier work were the basic ideas, not the specifics of plot or dialogue. Since copyright is intended to encourage creative production, using someone else’s ideas to craft a new and original work upholds the purpose of copyright, it does not violate it. Only if one copies another’s expression without permission is copyright potentially infringed.

To avoid plagiarism, on the other hand, one must acknowledge the source even of ideas that are borrowed from someone else, regardless of whether the expression of those ideas is borrowed with them. Thus a paraphrase requires citation, even though it seldom raises any copyright problem.

CC-BY-NC-SA: Duke University Libraries

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• Citing Sources by David Diaz Last Updated Dec 21, 2023 3322 views this year
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How to Avoid Plagiarism

It's not enough to know why plagiarism is taken so seriously in the academic world or to know how to recognize it. You also need to know how to avoid it. The simplest cases of plagiarism to avoid are the intentional ones: If you copy a paper from a classmate, buy a paper from the Internet, copy whole passages from a book, article, or Web site without citing the author, you are plagiarizing. Here's the best advice you'll ever receive about avoiding intentional plagiarism: If you're tempted to borrow someone else's ideas or plagiarize in any way because you're pressed for time, nervous about how you're doing in a class, or confused about the assignment, don't do it . The problems you think you're solving by plagiarizing are really minor compared to the problems you will create for yourself by plagiarizing. In every case, the consequences of plagiarism are much more serious than the consequences of turning in a paper late or turning in a paper you're not satisfied to have written.

"...the consequences of plagiarism are much more serious than the consequences of turning in a paper late..."

The consequences of accidental plagiarism are equally daunting and should be avoided at all costs. Whether or not you intended to plagiarize, you will still be held responsible. As a member of an intellectual community you are expected to respect the ideas of others in the same way that you would respect any other property that didn't belong to you, and this is true whether you plagiarize on purpose or by accident. The best way to make sure you don't plagiarize due to confusion or carelessness is to 1) understand what you're doing when you write a paper and 2) follow a method that is systematic and careful as you do your research . In other words, if you have a clear sense of what question you're trying to answer and what knowledge you're building on, and if you keep careful, clear notes along the way, it's much easier to use sources effectively and responsibly and, most of all, to write a successful paper. If you have questions about plagiarism at any point in your research or writing process, ask. It's always better to ask questions than it is to wait for an instructor to respond to work that you have turned in for a grade. Once you have turned in your final work, you will be held responsible for misuse of sources.

With these principles in mind, here are some guidelines for conducting research responsibly:

Keep track of your sources; print electronic sources

While it's easy enough to keep a stack of books or journal articles on your desk where you can easily refer back to them, it's just as important to keep track of electronic sources. When you save a PDF of a journal article, make sure you put it into a folder on your computer where you'll be able to find it. When you consult a Web site, log the Web address in a separate document from the paper you're writing so that you'll be able to return to the Web site and cite it correctly. You should also print the relevant pages from any Web sites you use, making sure you note the complete URL and the date on which you printed the material. Because electronic sources aren't stable and Web pages can be deleted without notice, beware of directing your readers to sources that might have disappeared. Check when the Web site you're using was last updated and update the URLs as you work and once again right before you submit your essay. If an electronic source disappears before you submit your work, you will need to decide whether or not to keep the source in your paper. If you have printed the source and can turn it in with your paper, you should do so. If you have not printed the source, you should consult your instructor about whether or not to use that source in your paper.

The library has several helpful resources for managing your sources, including RefWorks .

Keep sources in correct context

Whenever you consult a source, you should make sure you understand the context, both of the ideas within a source and of the source itself. You should also be careful to consider the context in which a source was written. For example, a book of essays published by an organization with a political bias might not present an issue with adequate complexity for your project.

The question of context can be more complicated when you're working with Internet sources than with print sources because you may see one Web page as separate from an entire Web site and use or interpret that page without fully understanding or representing its context. For example, a definition of "communism" taken from a Web site with a particular political agenda might provide one interpretation of the meaning of the word—but if you neglect to mention the context for that definition you might use it as though it's unbiased when it isn't. Likewise, some Internet searches will take you to a URL that's just one Web page within a larger Web site; be sure to investigate and take notes on the context of the information you're citing.

Research can often turn out to be more time-consuming that you anticipate. Budget enough time to search for sources, to take notes, and to think about how to use the sources in your essay. Moments of carelessness are more common when you leave your essay until the last minute and are tired or stressed. Honest mistakes can lead to charges of plagiarism just as dishonesty can; be careful when note-taking and when incorporating ideas and language from electronic sources so you always know what language and ideas are yours and what belongs to a source.

Don't cut and paste: File and label your sources

Never cut and paste information from an electronic source straight into your own essay, and never type verbatim sentences from a print source straight into your essay. Instead, open a separate document on your computer for each source so you can file research information carefully. When you type or cut and paste into that document, make sure to include the full citation information for the print source or the full URL and the date you copied the page(s). For Web sources, make sure to cite the page from which you're taking information, which may not necessarily be the home page of the site you're using. Use logical and precise names for the files you create, and add citation information and dates. This allows you to retrieve the files easily, deters you from accidentally deleting files, and helps you keep a log of the order in which your research was conducted. It's a good idea to add a note to each file that describes how you might use the information in that file. Remember: you're entering a conversation with your sources, and accurate file names and notes can help you understand and engage that conversation. And, of course, always remember to back up your files.

Keep your own writing and your sources separate

Work with either the printed copy of your source(s) or (in the case of online sources), the copy you pasted into a separate document—not the online version—as you draft your essay. This precaution not only decreases the risk of plagiarism but also enables you to annotate your sources in various ways that will help you understand and use them most effectively in your essay.

Keep your notes and your draft separate

Be careful to keep your research notes separate from your actual draft at all stages of your writing process. This will ensure that you don't cut language from a source and paste it into your paper without proper attribution. If you work from your notes, you're more likely to keep track of the boundaries between your own ideas and those in a source.

Paraphrase carefully in your notes; acknowledge your sources explicitly when paraphrasing

When you want to paraphrase material, it's a good idea first to paste the actual quotation into your notes (not directly into your draft) and then to paraphrase it (still in your notes). Putting the information in your own words will help you make sure that you've thought about what the source is saying and that you have a good reason for using it in your paper. Remember to use some form of notation in your notes to indicate what you've paraphrased and mention the author's name within the material you paraphrase. You should also include all citation information in your notes.

When you decide to use paraphrased material in your essay, make sure that you avoid gradually rewording the paraphrased material from draft to draft until you lose sight of the fact that it's still a paraphrase. Also, avoid excessive paraphrasing in which your essay simply strings together a series of paraphrases. When the ideas taken from your sources start to blend in deceptively with your own thinking, you will have a more difficult time maintaining the boundaries between your ideas and those drawn from sources. Finally, whenever you paraphrase, make sure you indicate, at each logical progression, that the ideas are taken from an authored source.

Avoid reading a classmate's paper for inspiration

If you're in a course that requires peer review or workshops of student drafts, you are going to read your classmates' work and discuss it. This is a productive way of exchanging ideas and getting feedback on your work. If you find, in the course of this work, that you wish to use someone else's idea at some point in your paper (you should never use someone else's idea as your thesis, but there may be times when a classmate's idea would work as a counterargument or other point in your paper), you must credit that person the same way you would credit any other source. On the other hand, if you find yourself reading someone else's paper because you're stuck on an assignment and don't know how to proceed, you may end up creating a problem for yourself because you might unconsciously copy that person's ideas. When you're stuck, make an appointment with your instructor or go to the Writing Center for advice on how to develop your own ideas.

Don't save your citations for later

Never paraphrase or quote from a source without immediately adding a citation. You should add citations in your notes, in your response papers, in your drafts, and in your revisions. Without them, it's too easy to lose track of where you got a quotation or an idea and to end up inadvertently taking credit for material that's not your own.

Quote your sources properly

Always use quotation marks for directly quoted material, even for short phrases and key terms.

Keep a source trail

As you write and revise your essay, make sure that you keep track of your sources in your notes and in each successive draft of your essay. You should begin this process early, even before you start writing your draft. Even after you've handed in your essay, keep all of your research notes and drafts. You ought to be able to reconstruct the path you took from your sources to your notes and from your notes to your drafts and revision. These careful records and clear boundaries between your writing and your sources will help you avoid plagiarism. And if you are called upon to explain your process to your instructor, you'll be able to retrace the path you took when thinking, researching, and writing, from the essay you submitted back through your drafts and to your sources.

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Copyright Resources to Support Publishing and Teaching

• What Is Plagiarism?
• Copyrights: The Basics
• Registering for Copyright
• International Laws
• Public Domain
• Getting Permission
• Open Access and Copyright
• Use of Copyrighted Materials in Online Courses
• Course Reserves This link opens in a new window
• Using Video and Audio
• Copyright and Artifical Intelligence

What is plagiarism, and how is it different from copyright infringement?

• Plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct that occurs when you represent the work and/or ideas of another person as your own, original work.
• Copyright infringement is the unlawful use of work that is subject to copyright protection in a way that violates the exclusive rights of the copyright holder.
• Even if a work is properly cited and credited to the original author, it can still rise to the level of copyright infringement if your use is not a fair use, or you do not have the permission of the rights-holder to use the work.
• Plagiarism and copyright infringement can overlap, for example reproducing large passages of texts, verbatim, from an in-copyright work without crediting your original source, can constitute both copyright infringement and plagiarism. 

How can I check for plagarism in student work?

The Libraries provide faculty with access to the TurnItIn or iThenticate plagiarism prevention service through Canvas.  Explanations of how this tool works and how to utilize it can be found online within the Penn Canvas Information website .

Common misconceptions about detecting plagiarism :

• Online distribution of materials in itself is not necessarily plagiarism
• Online distribution of content does not necessarily contribute to plagiarism
• Rather, online distribution helps to prevent plagiarism by making it easier to detect when someone does not attribute ideas
• By putting materials online (and searchable) plagiarism detection software can more easily detect theft

For further assistance with copyright issues, you can begin with your subject specialist .

For questions about use of materials on reserve, contact Van Pelt Reserves or the librarian at your  reserve location .

Additional Resources

• Penn's Plagiarism Policy (Code of Academic Integrity )
• Penn LibGuide on Citation Practices and Avoiding Plagiarism
• Penn Computing Policies and Guidelines
• Penn Computing Policy on Unauthorized Copying of Copyrighted Media
• Attributing Creative Commons Materials
• “Research and Citation Resources,” Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab
• Anytime you rely on a source for an idea, that source should be attributed to the original author
• Changing a word or two in a sentence does not avert the need to cite the work of the original author
• If a source is copied without proper attribution, it is considered plagiarism
• When incorporating the in-copyright work of another into your own work, consider whether the use you are making is a Fair Use , or whether it is necessary to seek further permission from the rights-holder to use the work
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Plagiarism: Ethical and Legal Issues Essay

Personal drawbacks, ethical issues, legal consequences.

Presenting another person’s thoughts, words, or entire work as someone else’s own is plagiarism. Although plagiarism is always unethical, it may occasionally result in legal consequences. Plagiarism can come in many different forms. If one does not provide acknowledgment to the source, intentionally or unintentionally copying a text that has been published or not published, regardless of its length, is considered plagiarism. Plagiarism occurs when someone uses another person’s words, ideas, or arguments without giving them due credit. It is still plagiarism to submit a paper or thesis written by someone else and paid for. It is incredibly tempting to turn to plagiarism in college since students find themselves under a great deal of stress due to both financial concerns and grade expectations. Some people believe that the educational system is to blame for plagiarism because it puts too much pressure on students to achieve well and because so much work is expected of them. Some people also believe that copying someone’s work should be allowed to a certain extent. Despite that, this essay will provide several arguments against plagiarism since one of the main concerns is the consequences afterward.

Plagiarism is a form of cheating with a broad definition, meaning almost anyone can be accused of it. When considered by the instructors and discovered by a plagiarism scanner used by all college professors, plagiarized conduct might unquestionably result in negative grades. As teachers encourage students to write using their own words rather than plagiarizing and copying from others, if students utilize plagiarism in their work, they risk losing marks or failing to receive high scores. A plagiarized assignment can result in the lowest grading on the particular submission and the entire class because such fraud can be detected when teachers detect plagiarism through software. One’s aim may be to finish the task with the least effort and get good grades. Since academic writing in tests is about showcasing one’s abilities, including originality, it might result in complete failure to pass the examinations once it is discovered that one is not the author of the text. Outside of disciplinary measures, which may vary, since “Publication experts judge intentional and unintentional research misconduct differently” (Gasparyan 1220), a person will not have improved their writing abilities, and they are more likely to lose them in the future.

Copying is one of the trickiest ethical problems authors and creators must deal with concerning publishing and publications. The distinctions between citing, quoting, appropriating, and plagiarising are not always clear, despite certain apparent situations. Plagiarism is a severe problem, as some scandals have demonstrated. In fact, because of digital technology, plagiarism is becoming a more serious issue for publishers that needs careful management. Plagiarism also infringes on the author’s future rights. When an author’s original ideas are plagiarized, they lose more than just the study findings; if they publish on that subject, they must routinely cite their plagiarist, who can still claim previous publication. In actuality, the pirated document is a part of a sequential manner that requires any succeeding author to cite the original work. The impact is minimized when plagiarism involves a piece the victim has previously published since they can assert their legal rights. A different situation occurs for young authors whose co-authors are fraudulent or have merely presented preliminary data at a conference. After months or years of study, the victim of such crimes sometimes quits up on their field.

Plagiarism has significant potential legal repercussions. Final copyright regulations exist. Without citation and reference, one cannot use another person’s work. An author may sue a plagiarist. Some copying may also be considered illegal, resulting in a prison sentence. Journalists and authors who write for a living are more prone to plagiarism. Regular writers must be constantly watchful to avoid making mistakes. Writers are well-versed in copyright regulations and methods of preventing plagiarism.

In conclusion, it is critical to realize that since plagiarism is a deliberate act on the perpetrator’s part, it is a problem for each individual’s morale. There are many temptations to speed up work by utilizing someone else’s concept, but there is a thin line between breaking the law and not. Unfortunately, plagiarism often occurs because early schooling did not provide adequate ethical instruction. Educating pupils to be independent and interact with society is just as vital as combating plagiarism. The degree of plagiarism among students can be directly influenced by their willingness, value tendency, and stressors. Learning how to cite, paraphrase, and summarize can also help people prevent plagiarism, but not all international students are adept at using these techniques. As a result, students who want to avoid plagiarism should become better academic writers. Less plagiarism will be found in the future if the issues mentioned above can be resolved, enabling students to recognize the significance of project delivery.

Gasparyan, Armen, et al. “ Plagiarism in the Context of Education and Evolving Detection Strategies .” Journal of Korean Medical Science , vol. 32, no. 8, 2017, pp. 1220-1227, Web.

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IvyPanda. (2024, March 21). Plagiarism: Ethical and Legal Issues. https://ivypanda.com/essays/plagiarism-ethical-and-legal-issues/

"Plagiarism: Ethical and Legal Issues." IvyPanda , 21 Mar. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/plagiarism-ethical-and-legal-issues/.

IvyPanda . (2024) 'Plagiarism: Ethical and Legal Issues'. 21 March.

IvyPanda . 2024. "Plagiarism: Ethical and Legal Issues." March 21, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/plagiarism-ethical-and-legal-issues/.

1. IvyPanda . "Plagiarism: Ethical and Legal Issues." March 21, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/plagiarism-ethical-and-legal-issues/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Plagiarism: Ethical and Legal Issues." March 21, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/plagiarism-ethical-and-legal-issues/.

• Law and Policy Against Plagiarism
• Recognizing and Avoiding Plagiarism
• Plagiarism Effects in Academic Institutions and Workplace
• Plagiarism: The Act of Copying Someone Else’s Words or Ideas
• Plagiarism: Recognizing and Avoiding
• Embedding Plagiarism Education in the Assessment Process
• Plagiarism Among International Students: Omnibus Report
• Plagiarism: For and Against
• Spotlight on Plagiarism Phenomenon
• Lawyer Plagiarism as Ethical Violation
• Anxiety and Negative Experience With Mathematics Among Female Students
• Education: Multicultural Orientation
• Parental Involvement Plan in Education
• Bullying in Public Schools and Steps that Can be Taken to Address It
• Stigmatization Among Adolescents

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Avoiding Plagiarism: Copyright Vs. Plagiarism

• Dissertation / Thesis FAQ re: Copyright
• Copyright Vs. Plagiarism
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• More about Copyright This link opens in a new window

Plagiarism vs. Copyright Infringement

Copyright infringement includes the unauthorized or unlicensed copying of a work subject to copyright.  ( Tech Law Journal )

Plagiarism is using someone else's work or ideas without giving proper credit.  In other words, because you are not giving attribution to the owner of the original work or idea -- you are presenting the idea or thought as your own.

• Plagiarism is a violation of academic norms but not illegal; copyright violation is illegal but quite common in academia. 
• Plagiarism is an offense against the author; copyright violation is an offense against the copyright holder. In traditional academic publishing, they are usually not the same person, because copyright transfer agreements (CTAs) are so common.
• Plagiarism applies when ideas are copied; copyright violation occurs only when a specific fixed expression (e.g., sequence of words, use of an image) is copied.
• Avoiding plagiarism is about properly apportioning intellectual credit; copyright is about maintaining revenue streams.

Adapted from Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week  by  Mike Taylor, Matt Wedel, Darren Naish  is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License .

Examples of Plagiarism   ( from Jamie Dendy )

• Quoting someone's words from the Internet, a printed article, or an interview, without acknowledging the author.
• Copying part of the content of a work into one's own paper without citing the source.
• Copying or buying a paper and handing it in as one's own.
• Falsely creating a citation that doesn't exist.
• Failing to credit and cite someone else's thoughts or ideas when paraphrasing.
• Paraphrasing in a way that relies too heavily on another's language or syntax.

Learn About Ways to Avoid Plagiarism

See Avoiding Plagiarism   

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Information about what plagiarism is, and how you can avoid it.

The University defines plagiarism as follows:

“Presenting work or ideas from another source as your own, with or without consent of the original author, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement. All published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this definition, as is the use of material generated wholly or in part through use of artificial intelligence (save when use of AI for assessment has received prior authorisation e.g. as a reasonable adjustment for a student’s disability). Plagiarism can also include re-using your own work without citation. Under the regulations for examinations, intentional or reckless plagiarism is a disciplinary offence.”

The necessity to acknowledge others’ work or ideas applies not only to text, but also to other media, such as computer code, illustrations, graphs etc. It applies equally to published text and data drawn from books and journals, and to unpublished text and data, whether from lectures, theses or other students’ essays. You must also attribute text, data, or other resources downloaded from websites.

Please note that artificial intelligence (AI) can only be used within assessments where specific prior authorisation has been given, or when technology that uses AI has been agreed as reasonable adjustment for a student’s disability (such as voice recognition software for transcriptions, or spelling and grammar checkers).

The best way of avoiding plagiarism is to learn and employ the principles of good academic practice from the beginning of your university career. Avoiding plagiarism is not simply a matter of making sure your references are all correct, or changing enough words so the examiner will not notice your paraphrase; it is about deploying your academic skills to make your work as good as it can be.

Students will benefit from taking an  online course  which has been developed to provide a useful overview of the issues surrounding plagiarism and practical ways to avoid it.

Forms of plagiarism

Verbatim (word for word) quotation without clear acknowledgement Quotations must always be identified as such by the use of either quotation marks or indentation, and with full referencing of the sources cited. It must always be apparent to the reader which parts are your own independent work and where you have drawn on ideas and language from another source.

Cutting and pasting from the Internet without clear acknowledgement Information derived from the Internet must be adequately referenced and included in the bibliography. It is important to evaluate carefully all material found on the Internet, as it is less likely to have been through the same process of scholarly peer review as published sources.

Paraphrasing Paraphrasing the work of others by altering a few words and changing their order, or by closely following the structure of their argument, is plagiarism if you do not give due acknowledgement to the author whose work you are using.

A passing reference to the original author in your own text may not be enough; you must ensure that you do not create the misleading impression that the paraphrased wording or the sequence of ideas are entirely your own. It is better to write a brief summary of the author’s overall argument in your own words, indicating that you are doing so, than to paraphrase particular sections of his or her writing. This will ensure you have a genuine grasp of the argument and will avoid the difficulty of paraphrasing without plagiarising. You must also properly attribute all material you derive from lectures.

Collusion This can involve unauthorised collaboration between students, failure to attribute assistance received, or failure to follow precisely regulations on group work projects. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are entirely clear about the extent of collaboration permitted, and which parts of the work must be your own.

Inaccurate citation It is important to cite correctly, according to the conventions of your discipline. As well as listing your sources (i.e. in a bibliography), you must indicate, using a footnote or an in-text reference, where a quoted passage comes from. Additionally, you should not include anything in your references or bibliography that you have not actually consulted. If you cannot gain access to a primary source you must make it clear in your citation that your knowledge of the work has been derived from a secondary text (for example, Bradshaw, D. Title of Book, discussed in Wilson, E., Title of Book (London, 2004), p. 189).

Failure to acknowledge assistance You must clearly acknowledge all assistance which has contributed to the production of your work, such as advice from fellow students, laboratory technicians, and other external sources. This need not apply to the assistance provided by your tutor or supervisor, or to ordinary proofreading, but it is necessary to acknowledge other guidance which leads to substantive changes of content or approach.

Use of material written by professional agencies or other persons You should neither make use of professional agencies in the production of your work nor submit material which has been written for you even with the consent of the person who has written it. It is vital to your intellectual training and development that you should undertake the research process unaided. Under Statute XI on University Discipline, all members of the University are prohibited from providing material that could be submitted in an examination by students at this University or elsewhere.

Auto-plagiarism You must not submit work for assessment that you have already submitted (partially or in full), either for your current course or for another qualification of this, or any other, university, unless this is specifically provided for in the special regulations for your course. Where earlier work by you is citable, ie. it has already been published, you must reference it clearly. Identical pieces of work submitted concurrently will also be considered to be auto-plagiarism.

Why does plagiarism matter?

Plagiarism is a breach of academic integrity. It is a principle of intellectual honesty that all members of the academic community should acknowledge their debt to the originators of the ideas, words, and data which form the basis for their own work. Passing off another’s work as your own is not only poor scholarship, but also means that you have failed to complete the learning process. Plagiarism is unethical and can have serious consequences for your future career; it also undermines the standards of your institution and of the degrees it issues.

Why should you avoid plagiarism?

There are many reasons to avoid plagiarism. You have come to university to learn to know and speak your own mind, not merely to reproduce the opinions of others - at least not without attribution. At first it may seem very difficult to develop your own views, and you will probably find yourself paraphrasing the writings of others as you attempt to understand and assimilate their arguments. However it is important that you learn to develop your own voice. You are not necessarily expected to become an original thinker, but you are expected to be an independent one - by learning to assess critically the work of others, weigh up differing arguments and draw your own conclusions. Students who plagiarise undermine the ethos of academic scholarship while avoiding an essential part of the learning process.

You should avoid plagiarism because you aspire to produce work of the highest quality. Once you have grasped the principles of source use and citation, you should find it relatively straightforward to steer clear of plagiarism. Moreover, you will reap the additional benefits of improvements to both the lucidity and quality of your writing. It is important to appreciate that mastery of the techniques of academic writing is not merely a practical skill, but one that lends both credibility and authority to your work, and demonstrates your commitment to the principle of intellectual honesty in scholarship.

What happens if you are thought to have plagiarised?

The University regards plagiarism in examinations as a serious matter. Cases will be investigated and penalties may range from deduction of marks to expulsion from the University, depending on the seriousness of the occurrence. Even if plagiarism is inadvertent, it can result in a penalty. The forms of plagiarism listed above are all potentially disciplinary offences in the context of formal assessment requirements.

The regulations regarding conduct in examinations apply equally to the ‘submission and assessment of a thesis, dissertation, essay, or other coursework not undertaken in formal examination conditions but which counts towards or constitutes the work for a degree or other academic award’. Additionally, this includes the transfer and confirmation of status exercises undertaken by graduate students. Cases of suspected plagiarism in assessed work are investigated under the disciplinary regulations concerning conduct in examinations. Intentional plagiarism in this context means that you understood that you were breaching the regulations and did so intending to gain advantage in the examination. Reckless, in this context, means that you understood or could be expected to have understood (even if you did not specifically consider it) that your work might breach the regulations, but you took no action to avoid doing so. Intentional or reckless plagiarism may incur severe penalties, including failure of your degree or expulsion from the university.

If plagiarism is suspected in a piece of work submitted for assessment in an examination, the matter will be referred to the Proctors. They will thoroughly investigate the claim and call the student concerned for interview. If at this point there is no evidence of a breach of the regulations, no further disciplinary action will be taken although there may still be an academic penalty. However, if it is concluded that a breach of the regulations may have occurred, the Proctors will refer the case to the Student Disciplinary Panel.

If you are suspected of plagiarism your College Secretary/Academic Administrator and subject tutor will support you through the process and arrange for a member of Congregation to accompany you to all hearings. They will be able to advise you what to expect during the investigation and how best to make your case. The OUSU Student Advice Service can also provide useful information and support. 

Does this mean that I shouldn’t use the work of other authors?

On the contrary, it is vital that you situate your writing within the intellectual debates of your discipline. Academic essays almost always involve the use and discussion of material written by others, and, with due acknowledgement and proper referencing, this is clearly distinguishable from plagiarism. The knowledge in your discipline has developed cumulatively as a result of years of research, innovation and debate. You need to give credit to the authors of the ideas and observations you cite. Not only does this accord recognition to their work, it also helps you to strengthen your argument by making clear the basis on which you make it. Moreover, good citation practice gives your reader the opportunity to follow up your references, or check the validity of your interpretation.

Does every statement in my essay have to be backed up with references?

You may feel that including the citation for every point you make will interrupt the flow of your essay and make it look very unoriginal. At least initially, this may sometimes be inevitable. However, by employing good citation practice from the start, you will learn to avoid errors such as close paraphrasing or inadequately referenced quotation. It is important to understand the reasons behind the need for transparency of source use.

All academic texts, even student essays, are multi-voiced, which means they are filled with references to other texts. Rather than attempting to synthesise these voices into one narrative account, you should make it clear whose interpretation or argument you are employing at any one time - whose ‘voice’ is speaking.

If you are substantially indebted to a particular argument in the formulation of your own, you should make this clear both in footnotes and in the body of your text according to the agreed conventions of the discipline, before going on to describe how your own views develop or diverge from this influence.

On the other hand, it is not necessary to give references for facts that are common knowledge in your discipline. If you are unsure as to whether something is considered to be common knowledge or not, it is safer to cite it anyway and seek clarification. You do need to document facts that are not generally known and ideas that are interpretations of facts. 

Does this only matter in exams?

Although plagiarism in weekly essays does not constitute a University disciplinary offence, it may well lead to College disciplinary measures. Persistent academic under-performance can even result in your being sent down from the University. Although tutorial essays traditionally do not require the full scholarly apparatus of footnotes and referencing, it is still necessary to acknowledge your sources and demonstrate the development of your argument, usually by an in-text reference. Many tutors will ask that you do employ a formal citation style early on, and you will find that this is good preparation for later project and dissertation work. In any case, your work will benefit considerably if you adopt good scholarly habits from the start, together with the techniques of critical thinking and writing described above.

As junior members of the academic community, students need to learn how to read academic literature and how to write in a style appropriate to their discipline. This does not mean that you must become masters of jargon and obfuscation; however the process is akin to learning a new language. It is necessary not only to learn new terminology, but the practical study skills and other techniques which will help you to learn effectively.

Developing these skills throughout your time at university will not only help you to produce better coursework, dissertations, projects and exam papers, but will lay the intellectual foundations for your future career. Even if you have no intention of becoming an academic, being able to analyse evidence, exercise critical judgement, and write clearly and persuasively are skills that will serve you for life, and which any employer will value.

Borrowing essays from other students to adapt and submit as your own is plagiarism, and will develop none of these necessary skills, holding back your academic development. Students who lend essays for this purpose are doing their peers no favours.

Unintentional plagiarism

Not all cases of plagiarism arise from a deliberate intention to cheat. Sometimes students may omit to take down citation details when taking notes, or they may be genuinely ignorant of referencing conventions. However, these excuses offer no sure protection against a charge of plagiarism. Even in cases where the plagiarism is found to have been neither intentional nor reckless, there may still be an academic penalty for poor practice.

It is your responsibility to find out the prevailing referencing conventions in your discipline, to take adequate notes, and to avoid close paraphrasing. If you are offered induction sessions on plagiarism and study skills, you should attend. Together with the advice contained in your subject handbook, these will help you learn how to avoid common errors. If you are undertaking a project or dissertation you should ensure that you have information on plagiarism and collusion. If ever in doubt about referencing, paraphrasing or plagiarism, you have only to ask your tutor.

Examples of plagiarism

There are some helpful examples of plagiarism-by-paraphrase and you will also find extensive advice on the referencing and library skills pages.

The following examples demonstrate some of the common pitfalls to avoid. These examples use the referencing system prescribed by the History Faculty but should be of use to students of all disciplines.

Source text

From a class perspective this put them [highwaymen] in an ambivalent position. In aspiring to that proud, if temporary, status of ‘Gentleman of the Road’, they did not question the inegalitarian hierarchy of their society. Yet their boldness of act and deed, in putting them outside the law as rebellious fugitives, revivified the ‘animal spirits’ of capitalism and became an essential part of the oppositional culture of working-class London, a serious obstacle to the formation of a tractable, obedient labour force. Therefore, it was not enough to hang them – the values they espoused or represented had to be challenged.

(Linebaugh, P., The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteenth Century (London, 1991), p. 213. [You should give the reference in full the first time you use it in a footnote; thereafter it is acceptable to use an abbreviated version, e.g. Linebaugh, The London Hanged, p. 213.]

Plagiarised

• Although they did not question the inegalitarian hierarchy of their society, highwaymen became an essential part of the oppositional culture of working-class London, posing a serious threat to the formation of a biddable labour force. (This is a patchwork of phrases copied verbatim from the source, with just a few words changed here and there. There is no reference to the original author and no indication that these words are not the writer’s own.)
• Although they did not question the inegalitarian hierarchy of their society, highwaymen exercised a powerful attraction for the working classes. Some historians believe that this hindered the development of a submissive workforce. (This is a mixture of verbatim copying and acceptable paraphrase. Although only one phrase has been copied from the source, this would still count as plagiarism. The idea expressed in the first sentence has not been attributed at all, and the reference to ‘some historians’ in the second is insufficient. The writer should use clear referencing to acknowledge all ideas taken from other people’s work.)
• Although they did not question the inegalitarian hierarchy of their society, highwaymen ‘became an essential part of the oppositional culture of working-class London [and] a serious obstacle to the formation of a tractable, obedient labour force’.1 (This contains a mixture of attributed and unattributed quotation, which suggests to the reader that the first line is original to this writer. All quoted material must be enclosed in quotation marks and adequately referenced.)
• Highwaymen’s bold deeds ‘revivified the “animal spirits” of capitalism’ and made them an essential part of the oppositional culture of working-class London.1 Peter Linebaugh argues that they posed a major obstacle to the formation of an obedient labour force. (Although the most striking phrase has been placed within quotation marks and correctly referenced, and the original author is referred to in the text, there has been a great deal of unacknowledged borrowing. This should have been put into the writer’s own words instead.)
• By aspiring to the title of ‘Gentleman of the Road’, highwaymen did not challenge the unfair taxonomy of their society. Yet their daring exploits made them into outlaws and inspired the antagonistic culture of labouring London, forming a grave impediment to the development of a submissive workforce. Ultimately, hanging them was insufficient – the ideals they personified had to be discredited.1 (This may seem acceptable on a superficial level, but by imitating exactly the structure of the original passage and using synonyms for almost every word, the writer has paraphrased too closely. The reference to the original author does not make it clear how extensive the borrowing has been. Instead, the writer should try to express the argument in his or her own words, rather than relying on a ‘translation’ of the original.)

Non-plagiarised

• Peter Linebaugh argues that although highwaymen posed no overt challenge to social orthodoxy – they aspired to be known as ‘Gentlemen of the Road’ – they were often seen as anti-hero role models by the unruly working classes. He concludes that they were executed not only for their criminal acts, but in order to stamp out the threat of insubordinacy.1 (This paraphrase of the passage is acceptable as the wording and structure demonstrate the reader’s interpretation of the passage and do not follow the original too closely. The source of the ideas under discussion has been properly attributed in both textual and footnote references.)
• Peter Linebaugh argues that highwaymen represented a powerful challenge to the mores of capitalist society and inspired the rebelliousness of London’s working class.1 (This is a brief summary of the argument with appropriate attribution.) 1 Linebaugh, P., The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteenth Century (London, 1991), p. 213.

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Copyright Infringement, Fair Use, and Plagiarism

The use of relatively short direct quotes from a published work does not usually require permission from the copyright holder as it typically falls under the “fair use” provision. However, extensive quoting of text from a copyrighted source can constitute copyright infringement, whether the appropriated text is properly enclosed in quotation marks or correctly paraphrased, even if a citation is provided according to established scholarly conventions. Obviously, the same applies if the material is plagiarized outright. Moreover, the reader should note that intellectual or artistic work does not need to be published in order to be copyrighted. In fact, the moment the work becomes final it is automatically copyrighted. Thus, instances of plagiarism, whether from a published article or even an unpublished manuscript, can also constitute copyright infringement, though, of course, copyright infringement does not always constitute plagiarism. For example, if I were to quote extensively and with proper citation beyond the limit dictated by the publisher of the work from which I quoted, I would be in violation of that publisher’s copyright, but the infraction would not constitute plagiarism as I am letting the reader know, by my use of quotations and a citation, that the material being used is not mine.

Iverson, et al., (2007) cautions the reader that the amount of text that can be taken from a copyrighted source without permission depends on its proportion to the entire work. However, the reader should also note that some publishers, such as the APA, have established word limits for borrowing text. Given the above considerations, it should then be clear that extensive plagiarism and self-plagiarism may also qualify as copyright infringement because the copyright of the plagiarized or self-plagiarized content may be held by the publisher; not by the author. This would certainly be the case if the original article were published in a journal owned by one publisher and the second article were to appear in a journal owned by a different publisher both of which require that authors transfer the copyright of their papers to the publishers. One should note that not all publishers require that authors transfer their copyright to them.

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Copyright and plagiarism

Know about copyright

Learn how to cite and reference resources

Be careful about re-posting other people's work on social media sites or blogs

When you are using other people’s work, it is important for you to be aware of copyright and plagiarism.

Material can appear freely available, especially on the Internet. Everything appears to be there for your use, but you need to be careful! Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

What is copyright?

Copyright is an automatic right given to authors and other creators to enable them to control who may copy and redistribute their work. As a result, only the copyright holder may copy a work unless a copyright exception says otherwise, or you have the copyright holder's written permission. For published works the copyright holder is normally the publisher, not the author, as, during the publication process, the author transfers many of their copyright rights. It is important to respect copyright as this is how authors and other creators are rewarded for their creativity.

How copyright protects your work

Luckily there is an exception that allows you to quote from other people's work on the condition that you cite and reference. A quote is a short extract used as part of an argument in an essay or assignment.

To use larger amounts of someone else’s work under UK Copyright law, you must be using it for the purpose of criticism or review. For more guidance on using other people's work see Copyright for students .

For electronic materials, such as e-journals, e-books and websites check the licence or terms and conditions. Look out for materials licensed under a Creative Commons licence as these can easily be copied and reused.

Why do I need to know about it?

Sharing and repurposing information is a major part of most students' daily lives so be sure you understand how to use information ethically and safely. this is also a skill that you can take with you into the workplace. Poor information handling skills can cost an organisation its reputation and money, as we often see in the press.

Copyright and licensing knowledge is empowering. It helps you to consider your rights when publishing your own work or uploading content to social media sites. Understanding the implications of posting your images etc. can be very important.

Sometimes people see a copyright notice and panic. It can be worth contacting the person who holds the rights - they may give you permission to re-use something. Make sure you keep the permission document somewhere safe.   

Once you are happy that you are able to use the information and are not going to breach copyright, you must make sure that you properly attribute any work that is not your own. Referencing and citing is part of ensuring your academic integrity. Make sure that you are familiar with plagiarism and how to cite and reference the resources used in your assignment. 

Plagiarism Checker by Quetext

Free plagiarism checker: how it works, enter text into plagiarism detection tool.

We make it simple. Just copy and paste all content from your document into our plagiarism checker and hit the ‘Check Plagiarism’ button to get started.

Evaluate text for plagiarism

Our plagiarism detection tool uses DeepSearch™ Technology to identify any content throughout your document that might be plagiarized. We identify plagiarized content by running the text through three steps:

• 1.) Contextual Analysis
• 2.) Fuzzy Matching
• 3.) Conditional Scoring

Accurate plagiarism results

After evaluating the text against billions of internet sources, you will be provided with a plagiarism score showing the percentage of text that is an exact or near-match to existing text online.

Resolve plagiarism risk and use citations

Our ColorGrade™ feedback feature highlights exact matches vs. near-exact or “fuzzy” matches with corresponding colors. From there, you can resolve plagiarism issues by deleting or altering the at-risk copy. Or, you can use our handy “Cite Source” feature to generate citations in MLA, APA, and Chicago formats and insert the citations directly into your document.

Plagiarism Checker Benefits

Whether producing original content or verifying that of others, there’s a lot to gain from using a plagiarism checker. Accurate, automatic detection of duplicate content facilitates the copy-checking process for teachers, students, content writers, and more. Results showing the exact percentage of plagiarized content allows users to see exactly how much text has been copied and where they need to re-word.

For Teachers

Before homework can be graded for quality, it must first be confirmed as original. Our easy-to-use tool arms teachers with a simple, effective way to verify and grade students’ work. Educators at all levels can benefit from ensuring academic integrity through a comprehensive plagiarism check. From K-12, all the way through higher education, teachers are faced with the task of verifying the originality of the work of dozens, if not hundreds, of students each year. Automating this process frees teachers up to focus on the quality of work, rather than be bogged down by its originality.

For Students

While the prevalence of academic plagiarism is on the rise, much of it is arguably unintentional. A simple, yet accurate and comprehensive, plagiarism checker offers students peace of mind when submitting written content for grading. It is much easier to do a quick check for potential plagiarism before submission rather than convince a teacher after the fact that your academic integrity is not in question. And Quetext even takes checking for plagiarism a step further, helping students identify and cite the source itself with our built-in citation generator.

For Copywriters

Plagiarism risk is not restricted to academia. Anyone tasked with writing for an individual or business has an ethical and legal responsibility to produce original content. On top of that, content writers are often tasked with producing content on topics outside of their wheelhouse, leaving them reliant on the work of others for their research. Our plagiarism checker gives content writers a quick and easy method to prevent copyright infringement. Checking even lengthy pieces of writing takes only a few minutes, keeping companies’ public content in check and writers’ integrity intact.

Types of Plagiarism

It’s important to understand that plagiarism expands far beyond just copying someone else’s work word-for-word. There are several different types of plagiarism that should be avoided.

Self-Plagiarism

Many believe that, as long as they produced the work at some point in the past, they can include it in future pieces. However, even if you were the original author, that original work must be cited in order to not be flagged as plagiarism. Treat your past self as a totally separate author; be sure to include all relevant citations and quotations, the same as you would for any other source.

Patchwork Plagiarism

Patchwork plagiarism is the act of piecing together a "patchwork" of existing content to form something new. Assembling unoriginal content in this manner often involves some paraphrasing, with only slight changes. This type of plagiarism can be tricky and can certainly occur unintentionally, especially in academia. Since academic writing is largely based on the research of others, a well-meaning student can inadvertently end up plagiarizing.

Mosaic Plagiarism

Mosaic plagiarism is synonymous with patchwork plagiarism. It describes the process of loosely rearranging or restating another's work without issuing proper credit. It can occur accidentally or intentionally. For authors, mosaic plagiarism endangers their academic integrity or reputation as a writer. For those checking content originality, such as teachers, mosaic plagiarism can easily appear to be original content, which can make mosaic plagiarism especially difficult to detect manually.

Accidental Plagiarism

Plagiarism doesn’t have to be intentional to still be considered plagiarism — even in early academia, where students are just learning how to properly cite others’ work. While there may be no ill intent from the student, most schools have policies explicitly treating accidental plagiarism the same as intentional plagiarism. Students are expected to know how to properly issue credit to other authors. Similarly, content writers risk damage to their reputation if they produce plagiarized content, regardless of intent.

Plagiarism Checker FAQ

What is plagiarism.

Plagiarism is representing someone else’s work as your own. In educational contexts, there are differing definitions of plagiarism depending on the institution. Plagiarism is considered a violation of academic integrity and a breach of journalistic ethics.

What percentage of a paper can be plagiarized (or copied) and still be considered unique?

Generally speaking, similar or exact copies of another source should be kept under 15% for the total text of the article/paper/essay. As a best practice, citations should be used whenever using another source word-for-word.

What’s the difference between deliberate and accidental plagiarism?

Deliberate plagiarism is purposely copying works from books, articles, webpages, or someone else’s paper and representing it as your original work. Alternatively, accidental plagiarism occurs in a few different ways:

• Incorrectly citing another person’s works
• Failing to paraphrase another person’s works - even when citing it correctly
• Reusing your own previous papers and inadvertently representing it as a new idea

What are the consequences of plagiarism?

The consequences for plagiarizing another person’s works vary. But broadly speaking, the types of consequences can be grouped by person and profession.

Plagiarism consequences for students

Maintaining academic integrity is a top priority for every educational institution. As already mentioned, ignorance of how to properly cite sources is not an excuse for plagiarism. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure they are submitting work that has not been plagiarized.

Failure to do so can result in disciplinary action, including an automatic failed grade, removal from a class, or expulsion from a school or university. Students who are allowed to continue at their institution following an act of plagiarism may encounter mistrust and additional scrutiny from teachers and instructors.

Plagiarism consequences for copywriters

Copywriters stake their reputation (and by extension, that of their client or company) on their writing. All copywriters must produce completely original content for their clients.

The consequences for plagiarism here are clear: Copywriters who plagiarize the content of others will quickly find it difficult to obtain paying assignments. Similar to academic situations, it is the copywriter’s own responsibility to ensure that their content is 100% original.

Plagiarism consequences for journalists

Journalists are held to exceptionally high standards of integrity in their writing. A journalist who produces plagiarized content jeopardizes the trust of their readers and publishers. Plagiarism can instantly reduce a journalist’s career by a large margin. The ethical and legal standards issued to journalists are clear: Produce original, well-cited content or find another field.

Free plagiarism checker by EasyBib

Check for plagiarism, grammar errors, and more.

• Expert Check

Check for accidental plagiarism

Avoid unintentional plagiarism. Check your work against billions of sources to ensure complete originality.

Find and fix grammar errors

Turn in your best work. Our smart proofreader catches even the smallest writing mistakes so you don't have to.

Get expert writing help

Improve the quality of your paper. Receive feedback on your main idea, writing mechanics, structure, conclusion, and more.

What students are saying about us

"Caught comma errors that I actually struggle with even after proofreading myself."

- Natasha J.

"I find the suggestions to be extremely helpful especially as they can instantly take you to that section in your paper for you to fix any and all issues related to the grammar or spelling error(s)."

- Catherine R.

Check for unintentional plagiarism

Easily check your paper for missing citations and accidental plagiarism with the EasyBib plagiarism checker. The EasyBib plagiarism checker:

• Scans your paper against billions of sources.
• Identifies text that may be flagged for plagiarism.
• Provides you with a plagiarism score.

You can submit your paper at any hour of the day and quickly receive a plagiarism report.

What is the EasyBib plagiarism checker? 

Most basic plagiarism checkers review your work and calculate a percentage, meaning how much of your writing is indicative of original work. But, the EasyBib plagiarism checker goes way beyond a simple percentage. Any text that could be categorized as potential plagiarism is highlighted, allowing you time to review each warning and determine how to adjust it or how to cite it correctly.

You’ll even see the sources against which your writing is compared and the actual word for word breakdown. If you determine that a warning is unnecessary, you can waive the plagiarism check suggestion.

Plagiarism is unethical because it doesn’t credit those who created the original work; it violates intellectual property and serves to benefit the perpetrator. It is a severe enough academic offense, that many faculty members use their own plagiarism checking tool for their students’ work. With the EasyBib Plagiarism checker, you can stay one step ahead of your professors and catch citation mistakes and accidental plagiarism before you submit your work for grading.

Why use a plagiarism checker? 

Imagine – it’s finals week and the final research paper of the semester is due in two days. You, being quite familiar with this high-stakes situation, hit the books, and pull together a ten-page, last-minute masterpiece using articles and materials from dozens of different sources.

However, in those late, coffee-fueled hours, are you fully confident that you correctly cited all the different sources you used? Are you sure you didn’t accidentally forget any? Are you confident that your teacher’s plagiarism tool will give your paper a 0% plagiarism score?

That’s where the EasyBib plagiarism checker comes in to save the day. One quick check can help you address all the above questions and put your mind at ease.

What exactly is plagiarism? 

Plagiarism has a number of possible definitions; it involves more than just copying someone else’s work. Improper citing, patchworking, and paraphrasing could all lead to plagiarism in one of your college assignments. Below are some common examples of accidental plagiarism that commonly occur.

Quoting or paraphrasing without citations

Not including in-text citations is another common type of accidental plagiarism. Quoting is taking verbatim text from a source. Paraphrasing is when you’re using another source to take the same idea but put it in your own words. In both cases, it’s important to always cite where those ideas are coming from. The EasyBib plagiarism checker can help alert you to when you need to accurately cite the sources you used.

Patchwork plagiarism

When writing a paper, you’re often sifting through multiple sources and tabs from different search engines. It’s easy to accidentally string together pieces of sentences and phrases into your own paragraphs. You may change a few words here and there, but it’s similar to the original text. Even though it’s accidental, it is still considered plagiarism. It’s important to clearly state when you’re using someone else’s words and work.

Improper citations

Depending on the class, professor, subject, or teacher, there are multiple correct citation styles and preferences. Some examples of common style guides that are followed for citations include MLA, APA, and Chicago style. When citing resources, it’s important to cite them accurately. Incorrect citations could make it impossible for a reader to track down a source and it’s considered plagiarism. There are EasyBib citation tools to help you do this.

Don’t fall victim to plagiarism pitfalls. Most of the time, you don’t even mean to commit plagiarism; rather, you’ve read so many sources from different search engines that it gets difficult to determine an original thought or well-stated fact versus someone else’s work. Or worse, you assume a statement is common knowledge, when in fact, it should be attributed to another author.

When in doubt, cite your source!

Time for a quick plagiarism quiz! 

Which of the following requires a citation?

• A chart or graph from another source
• A paraphrase of an original source
• Several sources’ ideas summarized into your own paragraph
• A direct quote
• All of the above

If you guessed option E than you’d be correct. Correct punctuation and citation of another individual’s ideas, quotes, and graphics are a pillar of good academic writing.

What if you copy your own previous writing?

Resubmitting your own original work for another class’s assignment is a form of self-plagiarism, so don’t cut corners in your writing. Draft an original piece for each class or ask your professor if you can incorporate your previous research.

What features are available with the EasyBib plagiarism checker? 

Along with providing warnings and sources for possible plagiarism, the EasyBib  plagiarism checker works alongside the other EasyBib tools, including a grammar checker  and a spell checker . You’ll receive personalized feedback on your thesis and writing structure too!

The  plagiarism checker compares your writing sample with billions of available sources online so that it detects plagiarism at every level. You’ll be notified of which phrases are too similar to current research and literature, prompting a possible rewrite or additional citation. You’ll also get feedback on your paper’s inconsistencies, such as changes in text, formatting, or style. These small details could suggest possible plagiarism within your assignment.

And speaking of citations, there are also  EasyBib citation tools  available. They help you quickly build your bibliography and avoid accidental plagiarism. Make sure you know which citation format your professor prefers!

Great! How do I start? 

Simply copy and paste or upload your essay into the checker at the top of this page. You’ll receive the first five grammar suggestions for free! To try the plagiarism checker for free, start your EasyBib Plus three-day free trial.* If you love the product and decide to opt for premium services, you’ll have access to unlimited writing suggestions and personalized feedback.

The EasyBib plagiarism checker is conveniently available 24 hours a day and seven days a week. You can cancel anytime.  Check your paper for free today!.

*See Terms and Conditions

Visit www.easybib.com for more information on helpful EasyBib writing and citing tools.

For informational guides and on writing and citing, visit the EasyBib guides homepage .

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• Summer Academy

Essay Contest: Nappert Prize in International Arbitration 2024

• Tweet Widget

Thanks to the generosity of Sophie Nappert (BCL’86, LLB’86), the Nappert Prize in International Arbitration is celebrating 10 years since its inauguration in 2014. The prize will be awarded by McGill University for the sixth time in 2024.

Eligibility Requirements:

The competition is open to law students, junior scholars and junior practitioners from around the world. To be eligible for the prize, the authors must:

• be either currently enrolled in a B.C.L, LL.B., J.D., LL.M., D.C.L., or Ph.D. program (or their local equivalents), or
• have taken their most recent law degree within the last three years; or
• have been admitted to the practice of law for no more than three years.

Co-authored submissions are permissible, but each author must meet the eligibility criteria. (Kindly note that only one author will be flown to Montreal for the symposium.)

Previous winners of the Nappert Prize (2020 and 2022) are not eligible to submit their essays for this edition.

• First place: CAN $4,000
• Second place: CAN $2,000
• Third place: CAN $1,000

Winners of all three awards will be required to present their essays at a symposium to be held at McGill University’s Faculty of Law in Autumn 2024 (the expenses of the winners for attending the symposium will be covered).

The best oralist will receive an award of CAN $1,000.

The precise date of the symposium will be announced in the coming months.

Deadline and Submission Mode:

All essays must be submitted by 30 th April 2024 11:59PM Eastern Time. Essays can be submitted using this form .

Submission Requirements:

Essays for the prize can be submitted in English, French or Spanish.

Please make sure that your essay:

• must relate to commercial or investment arbitration;
• must be unpublished (not yet submitted for publication) as of April 30 th ;
• must be a maximum of 15,000 words (including footnotes);
• must be formatted to Times New Roman Size 12 with 1.5 line spacing.
• should use OSCOLA or any other well-established legal citation guide (e.g. McGill Red Book; Bluebook);
• should be in MS Word format;
• should not contain your name or other information about your identity.

Submitted essays should not contain any text generated through advanced automated tools (artificial intelligence or machine learning tools such as ChatGPT), unless specifically required because of the subject matter of the essay and cited as mentioned below. Use of AI-generated text will be considered plagiarism, and any essay containing such text will be disqualified.

If the subject matter of the essay necessitates it, any AI-generated text in the submission should be properly cited. For example, text generated using ChatGPT-3 should include a citation such as:

Chat-GPT-3. (YYYY, Month DD of query). “Text of your query.” Generated using OpenAI. https://chat.openai.com/

Material generated using other tools should follow a similar citation format.

Jurors for the 2024 will be announced in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

For more information, kindly email Ms. Tanya Oberoi at nappertprize.law [at] mcgill.ca .

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