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examples of plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious infraction that can have severe consequences, both in professional life or student's academic journey.

Whether it is accidental plagiarism or attempted cheating, copying someone else's work without proper citation can lead to hard penalties: cancellation of the assignment, temporary or permanent expulsion from an institution, or even legal action with penalties. In the professional world, plagiarism damages reputation and can lead to lawsuits for copyright infringement.

In this article we present multiple examples of plagiarism that should be avoided at all costs.

 

Summary: 

 

Examples of self plagiarism

Self-plagiarism: failure to cite one's own work is considered self-plagiarism.
 

  • A student repeats a school year and reuses the same written assignments from the previous year. 
  • A professor publishes a previously produced research article, changing only the title and not citing the original version.
  • A writer reuses entire passages from one of his earlier novels in a new work without informing his readers.
examples plagiarism

Examples of paraphrasing plagiarism

Paraphrasing:  repetition of a text in a different form, usually more detailed and explanatory.
 

  • Write "To train artificial intelligence models, vast amounts of data are needed to help recognize patterns." to resume  "The development of artificial intelligence systems requires vast amounts of data, which is used to train the models to recognize patterns." without quoting the source. 
  • Paraphrase with the use of synonyms: "Deep learning has completely changed AI, particularly with improvements in neural networks." to resume "Deep learning has revolutionized the field of artificial intelligence, especially with advancements in neural networks."

Examples of translation plagiarism 

Translation plagiarism: simply translating a text without mentioning the source
 

  • A French-speaking student, looking for sources for his thesis, discovers a scientific article written in English that perfectly fits his subject. He decided to translate it entirely into French, and incorporated it into his work without mentioning the original author or source.
  • An Italian blogger wants to enrich his site with relevant content. He finds an article in French that meets his expectations. He translates it into Italian and publishes it on his blog without mentioning the author or source site. 
  • A Chinese researcher refers to a relevant English study in his scientific research by simply translating it into Chinese without referring to the study's author.
example of mosaic plagiarism

Examples of mosaic plagiarism 

Mosaic plagiarism : Mixing whole sentences from different sources and blending them together 
 

  • Incorporating passages from other literary works, specialized research or poems, but modifying them slightly, without correct attribution of sources.
  • Reuse parts of public speeches or texts, reformulate them and integrate them into another context without mentioning the original author or source.

Examples of global plagiarism

Global plagiarism:  take up an entire piece of writing and make it your own.
 

  • A teacher uses an entire lecture to offer a course to his students without mentioning the source.
  • A television content producer copies a television series in its entirety (same dialogue, format, plot, etc.) without attributing the source.
  • Historian and best-selling author Stephen Ambrose, was charged in 2002 with global plagiarism after copying entire passages from other historians' books into his own works.
example plagiarism journalism

Examples of plagiarism in journalism
 

  • Using photos or videos from other media without proper authorization or attribution, publishing them as the journalist's original work.
  • A journalist creating a fictitious story by combining detailed information from various sources and pretending that the facts are real.
  • A journalist republishes an article he has previously written without acknowledging the republication.

Examples of plagiarism in research
 

  • A researcher repeats the hypotheses, experimental structure or methodology of another researcher without mentioning the source. 
  • Using graphs or diagrams in research articles from other publications without permission or attribution.
  • A research director or laboratory head imposes his or her name on articles to which he or she has not actually contributed, exploiting the work of another.
example of direct plagiarism

Examples of plagiarism in literature
 

  • Stylistic plagiarism: imitating another author's writing style or structure without quoting them.
  • Adopt an author's narrative approach, ideas and concepts.
  • Use another author's work, manuscripts or unpublished works without authorization or attribution.
  • Use quotations from another author without mentioning the original source.

Examples of plagiarism in music
 

  • A musician uses the melody of an existing song and incorporates it into his or her own composition without permission or proper citation.
  • Copying a line, a verse or even entire sections of lyrics without giving credit to the original author.
  • A music video may copy visual ideas, themes or concepts from another artist without permission.

 

 

Other famous examples of plagiarism
 

  • The famous guitar riff on Nirvana's Come as You Are was allegedly inspired by Killing Joke's Eighties. Kurt Cobain acknowledged this plagiarism, but following his death, no legal action was taken. 
  • In 2016, Melania Trump took several passages from a Michelle Obama speech, rewording them and incorporating them into her own speech at the Republican National Convention 
  • In 2015, writer Dora O'Brien was accused of mosaic plagiarism for her novel The Whispering Shadows. She incorporated passages from an academic work on Chinese art history and ancient poems, altering them slightly without attribution.
  • In 2007, Montana Senator John Walsh submitted the final paper required for his master's degree at the U.S. Army War College. However, two-thirds of his thesis on Middle East politics had been taken from outside sources without proper attribution. Although he may have mentioned these sources in footnotes, he had not used quotation marks for direct quotations. This academic lapse led the U.S. Army War College to revoke his degree.

FAQ

What are direct plagiarism and code plagiarism?

Direct plagiarism occurs when text is copied verbatim from a source without citation. Code plagiarism refers to copying code from an existing project without proper attribution.

What is an example of direct plagiarism?

Copying an entire paragraph from an article and pasting it into your own essay without quotation marks or a citation.

What is an example of code plagiarism?

Copying a Python script from an open-source project and submitting it as your own work for a class assignment without crediting the original author.

Plagiarism, whether intentional or accidental, is strictly prohibited and subject to penalties. The best way to avoid it is by citing your sources properly and giving credit to the original authors.

In academia, plagiarism can ruin careers and cost students years of hard work. Protect your academic integrity by ensuring the authenticity of your work.

 

 

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