Is Someone Plagiarizing Your Work?

About two weeks ago I received an article submissionthat immediately attracted my attention. The title wasidentical to the title of an article I wrote and whichwas published in 'WebProNews' in May 1999.

"Probably just a coincidence", I thought to myself,and kept reading. But the first paragraph stopped mein my tracks. It was quite clearly plagiarized from myarticle. As I kept reading I recognized sentence aftersentence that had been lifted from my article and thenmodified slightly.

The whole article was plagiarized. I could hardlybelieve it. As the English say, I was 'gob-smacked'.

------------------------------What Is Plagiarism?------------------------------

'Plagiarism' comes from the Latin word 'plagiarius', akidnapper. Here are two dictionary definitions ofplagiarism:

'[to] take (the work or idea of someone else)

and pass it off as one's own' (Concise Oxford

Dictionary, Third Edition, 1999).

'to appropriate ideas, passages etc. from another

work or author' (Collins Dictionary of the English

Language, ed. P. Hanks 1979).

Plagiarism can be done in many ways, but the mostcommon technique is to paraphrase someone else's words.

Here's an example:

Original:

"And if you've matched the ezine to the product you'reselling, you've reached your target audience."

Plagiarized version:

"If you have correctly matched the ezine or newsletterto the product you're selling, then you will havereached your target audience."

As you can see, the plagiarist has simply taken theoriginal and then replaced the phrase 'you've matched'with the phrase 'you have correctly matched', insertedthe words 'or newsletter', and replaced the word'you've' with the words 'then you will have'.

Part of the reason that plagiarism is so rampant onthe Internet is that many people genuinely believethat it's okay to take someone else's writing, make afew changes, and then present it as their own.

----------------------------------Is Plagiarism a Crime?----------------------------------

As far as I know plagiarism is not a crime in mostcountries, and this is probably because plagiarism isso difficult to define. How many words does aplagiarist have to substitute and rearrange before thecopied version ceases to be a copy of the original?

This is why plagiarism is much more difficult to dealwith than copyright theft. A copyright thief simplysteals your work, lock-stock-and-barrel. A plagiariststeals your work and disguises it as their own.

But while plagiarism may not be a crime, it is heavilysanctioned in professions that are based on thewritten word. I know of one professor of sociology wholost his job almost overnight because he plagiarizedsomeone else's work. And in journalism theconsequences of being exposed as a plagiarist would bethe same.

Unfortunately, internet plagiarism is flourishing.There's now a whole industry that supplies collegestudents with 'model' term papers for the purpose ofplagiarism. Here are just some of the websites thatare part of this industry:

School Suckshttp://www.schoolsucks.com/

Other People's Papershttp://www.oppapers.com/

Evil House of Cheathttp://www.cheathouse.com/

But the plagiarism industry has spawned anotherindustry: websites and software designed to detectplagiarism. One such software was developed byturnitin.com (www.turnitin.com) and plagiarism.org(www.plagiarism.org).

This is how it works: the software makes a 'digitalfingerprint' of a submitted document using anelaborate set of algorithms. That fingerprint is thenchecked against a database that contains over 1billion publicly-available web pages. Plagiarism.orgthen produces an 'originality report' that gives theuser an index of how original the submitted paper was,and whether it falls above or below the 'plagiarismthreshold'.

This software, however - while an excellent tool forcollege professors - probably wouldn't help writersfind out if their work has been plagiarized.

----------------------------------------What Can You Do About It?----------------------------------------

The Internet is so vast, chances are you wouldn't knowif someone had plagiarized your work. I only discoveredthat my work had been plagiarized because the 'author'sent his plagiarized article to me for publication inmy own newsletter.

But if you do discover that someone has plagiarizedone of your articles, you could do what I did.

I immediately contacted the author of the 'article'and requested that he email everyone to whom he hadsent the article, explaining that it was plagiarized,and that they should on no account publish it. I addedthat if he did not withdraw the article fromcirculation I would contact his web host and themoderators of any lists that distributed the article.

The author replied within a few hours and admittedthat the similarity between the 2 articles was "VERYuncanny". He said he had no idea "how they could be sosimilar". But after a few emails, he did withdraw thearticle.

In a way, it's a compliment when someone plagiarizesyour work: it means you're writing good stuff. Butthat's little consolation. If you make your livingfrom writing on the Internet, plagiarism could be thegreatest threat to your livelihood.

------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3
years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this
simple technique to build a successful online business. Click
here to find out more: http://ezine-writer.com/
------------------------------------------------------------

---

Make Your Mark Upon Humanity

The greatest gift you have to give to yourself and... Read More

Rejection ? Have the Right Perspective and Don?t Quit

If you're getting rejections from your submissions, please don't quit... Read More

Could Your Book Idea Be the Next Best Seller?

Everyone has a unique story to tell. From explaining business... Read More

Write A Better Newsletter!

You've decided to write your very own Newsletter to promote... Read More

To Write Successful Business & Academic Communications, Learn the Architecture of a Story

Human beings seem to be born with a gene for... Read More

How Three Publishing Myths Kill the Author

Agents and publishing houses have their best interests at heart,... Read More

Writer?s Web Resources

The Internet has truly revolutionized the careers of writers worldwide.... Read More

Writing as a Gift

What am I supposed to give Anthony as a wedding... Read More

Ten Quick Tips for Inexperienced Writers

One of the biggest problems that inexperienced writers have is... Read More

7 Reference Books for Your Desk

I hate to admit this, but I rarely get an... Read More

Comma Usage Made Simple

Don't they drive you nuts?You can visit all the rules... Read More

Strategies For Finding Topics To Write About

What possibly could I have to write about? I never... Read More

Taming The Book Proposal

Taming the Book Proposal: The BasicsOh, that most maddening of... Read More

Why I Write Horror

These are some of the snapshots I carry with me:... Read More

Who Else Wants To Make $3546 By Simply Pressing a Button!

If you have been online for any length of time... Read More

Talent or Toil

As in all endeavors, toil is necessary to succeed and... Read More

Piecing It All Together

There's a little known secret we writers like to keep... Read More

Novel to Screenplay: The Challenges of Adaptation

ADAPTATION 101Brimming with confidence, you've just signed the check purchasing... Read More

How I Became a Syndicated Columnist -- And You Can Too!

Real Estate has "Location, location, location," and writing has "Clips,... Read More

10 Tips on How to Cultivate Relationships with Editors

If you are an aspiring writer, or you simply want... Read More

What Nationally Published Columnist, Cindy Laferle Has To Say About Writing & Journalism

Today Norm Goldman, Editor of sketchandtravel and bookpleasures is honored... Read More

Write That Down! Compulsively Collecting Content for Your Writing

Have you ever read someone else's writing and thought one... Read More

How To Be A Published (Non-Fiction) Author

1. Turning your idea into a bookWith non-fiction books the... Read More

Write Your Way To A Better Brain

Boost Brain Power Through WritingHave you ever noticed what happens... Read More

Get An Attitude About Your Writing

(This excerpt is taken from my new writing workshop Writing... Read More

Why Researching Is Good, And A Failure To Do So Is Not

What a lack of research could do to you.When creating... Read More

Before You Write Your Book, Organize Its Parts - Part 1

If you are a serious writer who wants to publish... Read More

Using Metaphor Effectively

We've all heard a politician on their soapbox, pushing for... Read More

About Writing

Here's everything I know about improving your writing, publishing it... Read More

Message to Online Writers: Dont Give Up On A Good Idea

The writing community is a strong one, with many new... Read More

Ten Tips to Help You Finish Writing Your Novel

1. Set aside a time to write and keep it... Read More

A Beginners Guide to Writing a Novel

No one is born a novel writer. But do you... Read More

Top Ten Writing Mistakes Made By New Childrens Writers

Okay. So I'm not David Letterman. But I doubt if... Read More