Understanding Plagiarism

Plagiarism: a variety of definitions

Listed below are some common definitions of plagiarism from a few different academic and professional perspectives. Notice that each one is properly cited. 

"Plagiarism is commonly defined as the unauthorized or unacknowledged appropriation of the words, graphic images, or ideas from another person. As such, plagiarism can be a violation of intellectual property rights, although it is not in all cases illegal. It is in fact one of the most serious and complex general issues in the practice of scientific scholarship, in part because its precise boundaries are not always easily determined and because concepts of plagiarism have evolved considerably over time."

Leydens, J. A. (2015). Plagiarism. In J. B. Holbrook (Ed.), Ethics, Science, Technology, and Engineering: A Global Resource (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 381-384). Macmillan Reference USA. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3727600565/GVRL?u=uiuc_eiu&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=5488771c. 

1. The action or practice of taking someone else's work, idea, etc., and passing it off as one's own; literary theft.
2. A particular idea, piece of writing, design, etc., which has been plagiarized; an act or product of plagiary.

"plagiarism, n.". OED Online. September 2021. Oxford University Press. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/144939?redirectedFrom=plagiarism (accessed September 09, 2021).

"Plagiarism can be defined in multiple ways, but the most basic definition refers to the act of representing another person's work as one's own. Derived from the Latin root plagiarius which means "kidnapper," plagiarism involves stealing another person's ideas, words, or results without appropriately assigning credit, effectively passing the work off as one's own creative output. In defining plagiarism, it is useful to examine the multiple forms that plagiarism can take. Forms of plagiarism include blatant plagiarism, technical plagiarism, patchwork plagiarism, and self-plagiarism. Blatant plagiarism is a deliberate act intended to deceive others; in this case, a person copies work and knowingly omits citation or giving credit to the original source. Technical plagiarism occurs when someone unintentionally fails to give proper attribution to borrowed material due to a failure to follow accepted methods of citation through a lack of knowledge or understanding of prevailing acceptable attribution guidelines. Patchwork plagiarism refers to a practice of sampling pieces from multiple sources, putting them together with minimal changes, and then presenting the product as a new contribution. Finally, self-plagiarism is substantially reusing one's own work. Examples of self-plagiarism include submitting largely similar papers to multiple outlets, recycling portions of previously published work in new work, and making slight additions to previously published data in order to rework the data and submit it as a new piece of research."

Kopaczewski, S. (2017). Plagiarism. In M. Allen (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods (Vol. 3, pp. 1255-1258). SAGE Reference. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX7191000424/GVRL?u=uiuc_eiu&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=b81ab2a4. 

"Plagiarism is defined as using the idea or work of someone else, claiming it as your own, and deriving an academic, material, or other benefit from having used it. In some cases, plagiarism is unintentional and involves a lack of knowledge or skill in drawing information from a source in a manner that is appropriate or legal, or that correctly attributes the creative effort of the author(s). This can take place with students or untrained employees who at times struggle with fair use of material in educational or commercial settings. In other cases, however, plagiarism is intentional and involves laziness, fear of improper interpretation, unethical behavior, a total lack of respect for the work of the author, or a complete disregard for the legal rights and protections afforded the author by U.S. and international copyright and other laws. These kinds of actions can take place when competitive pressures are high, such as in academic or business settings."

Fernândez-Calienes, R. (2009). Plagiarism. In C. Wankel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Business in Today's World (Vol. 3, pp. 1290-1291). SAGE Publications. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3201500758/GVRL?u=uiuc_eiu&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=5b61fe8d.