# plagiarism in forums?



## amoree

I apologise because I don't know where to put this thread and couldn't find information on the site. How far does plagiarism go on this forum? If we use our own phrase which someone has corrected, is that allowed or is it counted as plagiarism since technically it isn't our own work. I am very worried about this so I would appreciate feedback
Thanks


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## bluegiraffe

Isn't plagarism the act of copying someones work without permission?  I don't think it's any different from having, for example, a parent proof read your GCSE coursework.  I'd certainly be happy for anyone to use the sentences I've suggested on this forum in their work.


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## amoree

That's what I've been thinking however it isn't about how happy the person is, it's about using work that isn't their own. I so confused! Any one else have an opinion on it?


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## cuchuflete

Plagiarism involves copying without attribution to the original source.  You are welcome to quote another person's suggestion, giving credit to the source.   If you use sentences that are corrected in these forums in your school work, you might wish to let your teacher know that you have used the forums as a resource to correct and improve your own work.


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## Copyright

Most writers, no matter how good, need and use editors to correct and polish their work, not only for grammar but for logic and flow and continuity and redundancy and anything else the editor can catch. It doesn't matter whether the editor is paid or donates his efforts. 

I think the same thing is true here... no one is giving away anything that they don't want used. If they felt that way, they wouldn't contribute. In fact, I think they would feel worse if they offered advice and you decided that using it was plagiarism and wrote something similar that wasn't correct. 

We're all students of the language and all our words are built on a foundation provided by other people. Whatever is given to you is yours to keep, just like any gift. Plagiarism is stealing. This forum is sharing. That's my opinion.


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## panjandrum

Hello amoree - welcome to WordReference 

Two of the forum rules are relevant:*

16. Each member is responsible for his/her own posts.*
... 
When a message is placed in WordReference or its forums, you are granting an  irrevocable license to the site to use it in perpetuity.
Any translations, definitions and explanations that you provide can be used by  WordReference.com to integrate into its dictionaries and other reference  material.​*17. Quoting and copying*
You are free to quote short passages or definitions from threads in the Forums outside the forums. We appreciate a citation to WordReference, if appropriate, when you do so. Extensive quoting, e.g. from multiple posts, should be done only with the permission of the original poster, if locatable. Any compilation and redistribution of information from the forums is forbidden unless cleared with the administrator.​It seems to me that using the forum is simply using another learning tool.  

You would be criticised if you had someone else do your work for you, either here or in any other place.  I don't think asking someone about grammar or vocabulary that you are unsure about is the same thing.


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## SDLX Master

Copyright said:


> Most writers, no matter how good, need and use editors to correct and polish their work, not only for grammar but for logic and flow and continuity and redundancy and anything else the editor can catch. It doesn't matter whether the editor is paid or donates his efforts.
> 
> I think the same thing is true here... no one is giving away anything that they don't want used. If they felt that way, they wouldn't contribute. In fact, I think they would feel worse if they offered advice and you decided that using it was plagiarism and wrote something similar that wasn't correct.
> 
> We're all students of the language and all our words are built on a foundation provided by other people. Whatever is given to you is yours to keep, just like any gift. *Plagiarism is stealing. This forum is sharing.* That's my opinion.


 
I cannot agree more with Copyright, and he correctly closed it with his words in bold type.


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## Triffle

Amoree,
when you use resources from a let's say a more ordinary dictionary, you also use some other people's work and I'm sure you don't feel "guilty". For this very reason, I think that you should not consider that using resources from wordreference forums is plagiarism ;o)


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## elirlandes

To be clear - plagiarism is passing somebody else's work off as your own, whether you have permission to reprint it or not.

If I call you and ask if I can use a section of your work in mine, but do not then provide reference to the fact that I have done so, then it might appear to a reader who subsequently found out that I was trying to make it appear that I was the original writer. Permission does not come into it.


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## am786706

This is interesting because I also have brought up this question in the past.  Here is the thread that I started that dealt with knowing when/how/why to cite this forum.

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1316489

Maybe this will help?


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## Doc Justice

It would be fun to help translate a sentence in French on WR, and see it printed a few weeks later as the tagline on a movie poster. I'd go "wow".


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## Carfer

amoree said:


> If we use our own phrase which someone has corrected, is that allowed or is it counted as plagiarism since technically it isn't our own work.


 
I don't think it is plagiarism if - and only if - restricted to the sentences or words you learned or got corrected by the forum members. First of all, because it's still your own work, albeit done with the help of or corrected by someone else. Furthermore, if you request my help and I give it to you, permission to use my suggestions, corrections and advice is implicit. What would be the point of these forums if you would be prevented from using the specific sentence, word or advice you got from your fellow forum members? These forums are about sharing and mutual learning, I believe. Citations, although appreciated, are not always possible (just imagine you are requesting help for a translation job) and therefore are not mandatory. Finally, you are allowed to quote short passages or definitions from threads in the Forums (rule 17)
On the other hand, extensive quoting from the forums, compilation and redistribution of information from the forums is a different matter altogether, as it requires previous permission either from the original poster or forum administrators (rule 17 again).
That's how I see it. Please correct me if I am wrong.


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## gotitadeleche

Copyright said:


> Most writers, no matter how good, need and use editors to correct and polish their work, not only for grammar but for logic and flow and continuity and redundancy and anything else the editor can catch. It doesn't matter whether the editor is paid or donates his efforts.
> 
> I think the same thing is true here... no one is giving away anything that they don't want used. If they felt that way, they wouldn't contribute. In fact, I think they would feel worse if they offered advice and you decided that using it was plagiarism and wrote something similar that wasn't correct.
> 
> We're all students of the language and all our words are built on a foundation provided by other people. Whatever is given to you is yours to keep, just like any gift. Plagiarism is stealing. This forum is sharing. That's my opinion.



This is how I see it. I couldn't have said it better.


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## timpeac

amoree said:


> I apologise because I don't know where to put this thread and couldn't find information on the site. How far does plagiarism go on this forum? If we use our own phrase which someone has corrected, is that allowed or is it counted as plagiarism since technically it isn't our own work. I am very worried about this so I would appreciate feedback
> Thanks


It's not clear to me if this question relates to our rules and conduct on plagiarism here on this site or the view of use of work and phrases from this site elsewhere.

For the former, we require that any quotes are attributed where known and kept to a 4 line maximum.

For the second, as Panjandrum has pointed out, part of the agreement when signing up here is that anything posted automatically grants WordReference the right to use it in perpetuity. I would have thought this could potentially cause a problem if you are a professional translator doing work for someone who thinks that they will have the sole rights of use of your output - they would not.

Related to the previous point is how other interested parties may view the help received here. Educational institutions and the like take plagiarism very seriously - and they will make their own conclusions about what constitutes it. We may talk here about plagiarism versus sharing and the fact that advice here is similar to asking friends and family for improvements - but if I were a student I'd be very careful about handing anything in to an educational institution that I'd had "polished" here on line unless I was very clear of their opinion of it (or of course you provide a reference on the work you hand it). They would, I imagine, not have a problem as long as the site is being used as a learning tool rather than a "do my work" tool.


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