When you write for a column, blog or other publications, the one thing that you should be afraid of is being accused of plagiarism. I am not an expert in this field so let’s consult wikipedia on the meaning of plagiarism.
Plagiarism is the practice of claiming, or implying, original authorship of (or incorporating material from) someone else’s written or creative work, in whole or in part, into one’s own without adequate acknowledgement.
From what I understand, plagiarism is when you copied part or the whole work of another person and make them look as if yours. Even if one paragraph of your work was copied from another source without giving them credit, that is still plagiarism. I have seen a few cases where bloggers were accused of plagiarizing another’s work. If a person plagiarized and is caught with evidence, it could tarnish the reputation of the writer.
On the other hand, what happens if a person is accused of plagiarizing without solid evidence? Should the accuser apologize or be penalized in some ways when the accused is found innocent at the end due to lack of evidence?
I have been very careful when it comes to preventing/avoiding plagiarism. No one likes to have fingers pointing at them and being accused of plagiarism. In the past, I have wanted to write about certain gadgets but ended up abandoning the idea after realizing other “more popular bloggers” had already written about it. However, I realized that my “practice” is unsustainable because it is impossible to always write about things that no one has written before. I was then advised by another blogger that as long as I add my own “twist” and did not copy what others have written, I should be safe.
We appreciate your effort, however, we are unable to approve your post as the entire post has been copied and pasted from another source.
Despite my efforts, I received the message above last weekend and was accused of plagiarizing. The post I written was a sponsored post. It was rejected due to claims that the entire post was copied and pasted from another source. It is a 300+ words post and the only part where I copied anything from another source is part of a document that I clearly identified and quoted.
I sent a ticket to their support team yesterday and this problem is being addressed by them. I requested evidence on their claims that my entire post was copied and pasted. I am still waiting for a reply.
Questions:
- What do you think constitutes plagiarism?
- Do we need to ensure no one has written what we are about to write before writing them?
- If two (or more) people write about the same idea but express them differently, is it still plagiarism?
Stumble it!
Share it!
Subscribe to my feed
I will deal with ques. 1 & 3 together. Even if you’ve given credit, quoting an entire post within yours is considered bad form. Plagiarism also does not have to be about using the same words. If you express the same idea with different words BUT in the same structure and approach, that is plagiarism too.
Doing posts for PPP you will come across this sooner or later because you have to follow the requirements they set for you which doesn’t give you much room to move.
That said, the warning that they give you is probably generic. I don’t think you copy and pasted an entire post. You probably just had a very similar structure to another postie’s post. So wait till you hear back from them lah.
About ques. 2, you can’t really. But if you read another post which inspired your current post you should acknowledge it. You can do the same by updating your post, if you find out later that what you’ve written is very similar to what someone else had already written. It’s good blog karma.
Dude, the identify plagiarism by software. So it’s very mechanical.
Next time just write a sponsored post entirely with your own words. Just ramble a bit. Forget about doing research.
If you wanted to do a post that is informative to your readers, just write another post.
@mooiness
I agree with your points regarding Q1 and Q3. Just to make it clear that I did not quote an entire post. Their TOS has over 5,000 words and I only quoted 30+ words of it. Like I said, I quoted it as a reference. As for the rest of the content, it was “free style” without guides. I just wrote whatever I felt about the current situation after experiencing a few things.
On Q2, I will keep that in mind. I am still waiting for their reply. Thanks for helping out again.
@aw
It’s quite tricky sometimes. Some companies want you to be talking about the product/service for at least the amount of words they required, while others do not bother. I research for facts/information before writing all the time. So far, no problem with that. In fact, the post I was talking about was written spontaneously. I write what came into my mind. Therefore, if what I wrote is an exact copy of another blogger’s writing, it’s like hitting a multi million jackpot.
I see u got so many sponsor post! Meet ur $$$$ for camera yet??? So far I only got two post only & I ‘twisted’ it with hor ny fact so no problem here but I get no more ‘topic’ to write due to my ‘hor ny’ nature! There go my dream of earning $$$$!!!Have a nice day!
LOL, I crap 75% shits and 10% intro and 10% fact plus 5% this is a sponsored post. So never have this problem, not even after 1,200 opps.
I’m so sorry to hear this.
I did a sponsored post sometime back regarding a plagiarism service and I believed even the motion or idea though in different words are similar, it’s still plagiarism. BUt then like you say, it’s a gray area.
Unless it’s a personal post (a post that speaks about your personal experiences, rants etc), writing about a product or service will inevitably land you with people sharing similar views. That’s plagiarism too? I dunno…
Do you mind providing a link to your said post? Maybe we can learn a thing or two..
Dang, it is scary.
Think about it this way, someone copies your entire post and then credits you. Is that plagiarism? Yes it is.
This is why as a rule of the thumb, quotes taken from another site has got to be left to within a couple a sentences with the bulk of it constituting your own dissection and opinions. It’s not a grey area when you’re supposed to be paid for YOUR words.
You know no one really bothers with original work anymore when no one really knows that it’s about already.
@HORNY ANG MOH
Well, I will need around USD800-900 for a Nikon D40x. So far, I think I am almost half way there.
@lilian
Wahhh…got formula some more. hehe. Anyway, I do notice some people just talk about other things more than the product itself. However, I remember reading one of the company’s “new rule” that said the minimum words must be about the product/service itself. So many company I don’t even remember which one. *sigh*
@helen_H
I’ve received your email reply. Thanks. I sent a ticket to them and they have replied. I will write an update on this in another post soon.
@Edrei
Fully agree that quoting an entire post is still plagiarism. That is why I only quoted 37 words out of their 5,100 words terms of service page. And the quote was for reference and I did not include the 37 words into their minimum words requirement. That means I was “not paid” for that 37 words. hehe.