Would You Inform Someone if You Saw Blatant Plagiarism?
By timetravel
@timetravel (1425)
United States
January 29, 2012 7:46am CST
Let's say you are doing a task that involves rewriting an article. Part of rewriting is not just regurgitating the same words or phrases, but adding a bit of originality to the content. This may be done by doing a tad bit of research - not the same as if writing the original article - but just to enhance it a little. So you type in a keyword, click on an article - and bam! You are reading whole sentences and phrases word for word in the as yet unpublished article you are rewriting. It's quite obvious the article you are rewriting has been blatantly plagiarized. Now, I realize it's difficult to be one hundred percent original when writing some limited topic articles. But you can easily turn things around that you research to make the sentences your own. Would you inform the one you are doing the rewrite for? Most task submitters have plagiarism checkers, but these are known to fail or go down at times.
1 person likes this
6 responses
@beamer88 (4259)
• Philippines
29 Jan 12
I would if I had concrete proof that it was really plagiarized. It's not enough to accuse someone of committing plagiarism if we can't back it up with the original article that it was copied from. In any accusations we make, some form of proof is always necessary. Otherwise, it just wouldn't be fair.
1 person likes this
@timetravel (1425)
• United States
29 Jan 12
In this case, a link to the original article was all that was needed for proof. I agree, without proof it's just your word.
1 person likes this
@deodavid (4150)
• Philippines
30 Jan 12
hey there timetravler,
Well i guess i would because most of the time i do right some of these tasks and it would b wrong if others stole what you've made and made them earn a lot but if it had consent even if they don't compensate me as long as they asked permission then it is all good.
@timetravel (1425)
• United States
13 Feb 12
yes, it would be wrong, deodavid. Permission asked is one thing,but blatant plagiarism another.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
29 Jan 12
hi timetravel here in mylot we are asked to report any
blatant plagiarism that we see. I make sure that this is
not the mylotters own work then I report if it is indeed
plagiarism. so yes I would inform th person you are doing
the rewrite for as its illegal besides.
@timetravel (1425)
• United States
29 Jan 12
that's what I did. It felt kind of funny doing this - but in the end, I realized if it was out and out plagiarism then the worker wasn't being fair to the rest of us who at least try for some originality. Plus, the person who wanted the article could get in trouble with the website or even the search engine once the article was placed. There are all sorts of ramifications to this. I was careful to explain it was just something I noticed, provided the link to the "original" article - and said I could be wrong but this was the first time I had ever seen something so obviously lifted from something else it just stood right out! And I apologized in advance in case I was wrong. Told the person I was just bringing it to his or her attention - the rest is in the person's hands.
@GemmaR (8517)
•
29 Jan 12
I think that I would certainly inform somebody if I saw an article on the internet that had been copied from somebody else. You have to be aware that some people choose to post their articles on more than one website, so you have to make sure that it's not just the same author posting on multiple websites. If I ever see something that is somebody else's, I report it. The reason for this is that I know just how much hard work some articles take, and I don't think that it's fair that other people are able to just take them and make money for the things that they didn't take the time or effort to write in the first place.
@timetravel (1425)
• United States
29 Jan 12
I know that some articles have multiple placements which is why, when I sent a message to the task creator, I was careful to note that this could, possibly, be the case. It just didn't appear that way but I wasn't ruling it out - just wanting to make sure. The creator of the task was very appreciative and the article checker normally use wasn't working that day.
@fantabulus (4000)
• India
29 Jan 12
No I not inform to anyone after seeing blatant plagiarism because I know other persons may be inform. Because all are intelligent than me. Some time I not understand about this.
@timetravel (1425)
• United States
29 Jan 12
Not everyone can take in everything all the time, fantabulus! No matter how intelligent one may be, the task creators rely on plagiarism checkers and such because of being busy.
@Bluedoll (16773)
• Canada
29 Jan 12
I am know I am not suppose to just say thank you but thank you for taking the time to start this discussion, I think I've learned something from it and maybe want to stay away from this kind of thing. I was wondering what rewrite meant.
I can however see a writer starting with an article to use as a general theme and then to spin off their own work totally original with new thoughts. Some people write this way all the time I think but citing a source when appropriate is just a very good habit to get into.
@timetravel (1425)
• United States
29 Jan 12
A rewrite is basically taking the same article - the same idea, concepts, etc., but rewording it - at times perhaps clarifying something that wasn't made too clear, cleaning up grammatical errors, etc. For example, let's take this brief paragraph from an article:
Water dispensers are practically considered indispensable in today's fast pace of living. A quick-at-hand facility can save several minutes of walking to the water source each time the need arises. One therefore sees these water dispensers almost in all homes as well as places of work.
This was the first paragraph of an article I elected to rewrite. My spin on it would be as follows:
In today's word, water dispensers have become commonplace in the home, along with being seen in offices and other buildings throughout the world. With a water dispenser nearby, the need to waste time walking to the kitchen or bathroom is eliminated. Water dispensers have become almost essential in the home and places of business.
This is taking the same general paragraph and ideas, and just reworking it a bit. It says the same thing, only with a different approach. someone else may do it differently. In a rewrite, a source does not need to be sited unless one uses a direct quote from one in the rewrite. Now, if you are writing a term paper or thesis and quoting sources, then of course, you need to footnote. Hope this makes it a bit clearer, too!
