Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

 
INTRODUCTION 
“Plagiarists are always suspicious of being stolen from.” 
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Bartlett, 2002)
Many times students are confused as to what plagiarism is or is not. In this article, a comprehensive 
definition of plagiarism is provided along with a description of the different types and interpretations of plagiarism, 
the culture of plagiarism and tools used to combat plagiarism in academia.
PLAGIARISM DEFINED 
There are many unclear areas in the application of plagiarism as to what constitutes ownership of 
intellectual property and the misrepresentation of academic credit, through fraud, and deception. Not every instance 
of using another person’s original work constitutes plagiarism, as in the work of another for the purpose of satire or 
the case of similar creative work that occurs simultaneously by different authors. An example of simultaneous 
creation can be found in science with Leibniz and Newton both creating a new math formula, calculus, at 
approximately the same historical time. Plagiarism may result from a person influenced by “cryptominesia,” which 
is the state of recalling memories and thinking they are original and not remembering experiencing the original 
source (Liddell, 2003). However, most commonly is the instance where students will place their name on work that 
was written by someone else and claim it as their own original work. Plagiarism takes place in a broad spectrum of 
ways, some intentional and some unintentional, and some purely by mistake.
In the case of cryptominesia, a famous example is of Helen Keller who was accused in 1892 for 
plagiarizing her short story 
The Frost King,
which was very close in structure to another short story by Margaret 
Canby, 
The Frost Fairies. 
In her 1903 autobiography,
 
Keller said she may have read the Canby story but had 
forgotten it and “remained paranoid about plagiarism ever after” (Keller, 1903). 
 
In a case of “unconscious” infringement, and not one of cryptominesia, songwriter and musician George 
Harrison admitted to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (
Abkco Music, Inc. v. Harrisongs Music, Ltd., 1983) 
that 
his song “My Sweet Lord” was similar to the plaintiff’s composition of “He’s So Fine.” The case was based on a 
melody, which was considered by the court as a “partial theft” and an unconscious infringement, as Harrison’s song 
did not directly replicate the work of Abkco Music, Inc. “He’s So Fine.” 
Therefore, plagiarism can be construed as taking ideas from a novelists work, basing a song on another’s 
melody, or copying an artist’s original work. Exceptions can be made under copyright law for “fair use” in quoting 
portions of published work, or using work for satirical and parody purposes (Hoad and Zobel, 2003). Additionally, it 
is not plagiarism if facts are common knowledge, i.e. the American Civil War ended in 1865, do not need a source 

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