Questions tagged [plagiarism]
Plagiarism is the use of the ideas and words of another passed off as one's own. Issues here include similarity of work, theme, and characters. Plagiarism is not always a crime, but in academia and industry it is seen as a serious ethical offence. Cases of plagiarism can also constitute copyright infringement.
101
questions
3
votes
1answer
74 views
What resources can I use to be 100% assured that my story is not too similar/plagarising already existing works?
I've been worrying about this for quite a long time.
So, for the past year or so, I've been working hard on a story I'm very passionate about. My biggest concern of them all is copyright issues.
I'm ...
1
vote
1answer
52 views
Similar plot and similar character names-too similar?
I'm asking this question on the behalf of my friend.
So, recently, my friend's story seemed remarkably similar to a published story(FYI, my friend's story is still in the drafting stage, I'm just ...
6
votes
1answer
1k views
Same plot but different story, is it plagiarizing?
I'm writing a novel and is planning to publish it but then, I found out that someone else has already written a novel similar to mine. Both of our novel has similar plot but different story and ...
1
vote
2answers
96 views
Copyright infringement on spelling of invented names?
Years ago I invented a name for a kingdom/country in my YA fantasy novel, which I am on the verge of self-publishing. At random, I discovered a self-published author had the same invented name for her ...
1
vote
1answer
35 views
Is this MLA in-text citation correct?
I've been having major trouble trying to find if the following paragraph's MLA in-text citation is correct. My main issue is that the in-text cite is supposed to cite both Leviticus 16, and Leviticus ...
4
votes
2answers
676 views
What really is considered as plagiarism?
I am currently writing a novel which I noticed is based on ideas from many books that I have read. I noticed that what did I do is get an idea from a book, get another ideas from (many) other books, ...
1
vote
1answer
69 views
Is using the layout of anothers published work in danger of plagiarisim if nothing else is the same?
I started writing a book that uses the ‘layout’ or ‘style’ of another very popular book. I started it as a joke, but then fell in love with the characters and the idea. There is nothing the same in my ...
6
votes
3answers
198 views
How much can you reuse ideas from other stories?
So there was a novel that had some cool ideas and I really liked, but also there were many parts that made me annoyed mostly due to the genre, plot holes and inconsistencies and how they were done or ...
0
votes
1answer
94 views
Do publishers check manuscripts using anti-plagiarism softwares?
I am writing a non-fiction book. Although I am very keen on giving references where ever there is a need, there are small parts of my book, like a line here and a line there which I have paraphrased ...
13
votes
2answers
3k views
How can I know that I'm not plagiarizing?
New to the web. I just recently started to write again. I won a few highschool prizes writing short stories. Around the same time, I began to play Roleplaying games and to write different stories for ...
1
vote
1answer
82 views
Is this Plagiarism? [duplicate]
I wrote this blog post about an article I found online -> https://www.timesofisrael.com/researchers-develop-system-to-measure-solar-energy-potential-of-city-roofs/
This is my post:
The orientation ...
1
vote
1answer
37 views
Mention name in paraphrased text?
I'm a newbie writer and I would like to properly make references in my book (I'm thinking of using Chicago style, but am not married to it). Currently, I'm leaning toward using the notes-and-...
10
votes
8answers
3k views
How does one avoid inevitable influences being obvious when writing something like superheroes?
So I have been debating writing a story idea I have had swimming in my head for a long time. I love superhero comics, and I love the more character driven aspects of the stories.
I have been ...
2
votes
2answers
501 views
Writing a supernatural book with characters who have supernatural powers that have already been explored in other works?
I am in the process of writing a book with many of the characters discovering that they have supernatural powers.
I am trying very hard to find 'original' powers that have not yet been created and ...
2
votes
2answers
193 views
I may have unintentionally copied a TV series
As some of you might know from my other question, I'm writing a middle-grade book (hopefully the first in a series). In the setting of the series, a very small percentage of the population are born ...
1
vote
3answers
147 views
Is a novel based on the facts of a person's written journal considered plagiarism?
According to Plagiarism.org,
copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not
is considered plagiarism.
Now let's say that ...
3
votes
2answers
179 views
Questionable behavior by editor
Last year, I worked for an organization that published a weekly blog on its website. The blog was also published as a newspaper column and was included in a weekly e-newsletter.
One day, the owner/...
0
votes
0answers
71 views
Can I use Stephen Hawking's name in my Science fiction book? [duplicate]
I wrote a science fiction book in which, Alien species comes on earth and they meet with Dr. Stephen Hawking.
Is it legal to use his name for the book?
1
vote
2answers
123 views
Do I need to change the title of my book because it is similar to the Transformers Universe?
I used the name Primus and Primes for my book and these are from the transformers universe. My concept is totally different. Is this a copyright infringement?
I introduced a secret society named "...
2
votes
2answers
151 views
Is it poor form to paraphrase well known authors in dialogue?
Sometimes a situation will suit a well known author's quote and I do like expressions. Someone joked that I had no shame in paraphrasing. Is this poor form and if so why?
0
votes
4answers
287 views
How can I Include a verbatim passage in my fiction without plagiarizing it?
In my novel, the MC goes to a resort and at the resort, they offer two types of Buddhist meditations. Those meditations are from another book and I cannot fiddle with the meditation steps without ...
3
votes
2answers
95 views
Citing secondary sources in Chicago style?
I am a little bit paranoid about plagiarizing, and I am confused since I have found two seemingly contradictory answers for this.
Suppose source X says "source Y says blah blah blah."
One Answer
...
2
votes
1answer
62 views
How does re-posting someone else's article/column/blog work
I'm not sure if this is the correct exchange group to ask this, but I came across this article, Alternet_Paul_Krugman_Article, in which it basically just quotes Paul Krugman's NY Times column word for ...
0
votes
1answer
86 views
Is it considered plagiarism if i take an item from another story and use it in my own? [duplicate]
I am writing an essay for school about "The Neighborhood of the Future" And I want to include the babel fish from a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Could this be considered plagiarism?
0
votes
2answers
413 views
How do we distinguish plagiarism from homage in literature?
In film-making, some people consider a copy of an action scene scene-by-scene to be a homage. Is it any different in literature; how do you distinguish the two of them? If, for example, we take the ...
15
votes
6answers
2k views
Borrowing Characters
Would it be a violation of copyright and/or plagiarism to “borrow” a character from another novel?
For example, I have a short story and want to include as a side character Ender (of Ender’s Game). I ...
9
votes
5answers
1k views
When does inspiration across artforms become plagiarism
eSpoilers for Green Book in the E.g. section
I listen to a lot of music, and when I come up with stories, I often use songs as a source of inspiration.
However, what I was wondering is are songs ...
37
votes
9answers
14k views
Can I write a book of my D&D game?
I am a long time Dungeon Master of Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder. My games run in a custom world of my own making. However, I utilise a lot of the traditional lore and races of D&D.
I'm ...
2
votes
7answers
6k views
Is it plagiarism to use Google Translate?
This may be a very very stupid question but I need to ask it. I have written my dissertation in my mother tongue first, then began to translate it as I will submit it in English. While doing so I used ...
1
vote
2answers
139 views
Ensuring that a line or a passage doesn't get mistakenly identified as plagiarism
Is there a website that checks whether a character's line or descriptive passage is exactly the same as in another novel?
There was this author who got accused of plagiarism recently.
One of her ...
1
vote
0answers
45 views
Is my book to similar to Matched by Allie Condie [duplicate]
I'm currently writing a book about a government that designs its citizens' DNA and assigns them each to a job or purpose in life best suited to improve the society as a whole. My main character does ...
2
votes
3answers
2k views
I noticed that several already-existing poems used the same highly specific puns and phrases that I used. Is this unintentional plagiarism on my part?
A bit of context:
Exhibit A) I wrote a poem that had the line "crystalline crystal lines."
I googled this phrase, just to see if it was out there, and I saw that it was. I had never read the poem ...
2
votes
2answers
178 views
Is it plagiarism to use an item from another story in my own story?
What if I use an item from another story in my story? For example, in my story there is a metal called adamantium which obviously came from the story of Wolverine.
Can it be considered plagiarism?
1
vote
2answers
483 views
I feel like my book is too similar to famous existing novels? [duplicate]
I won't get into all the details, but my book is about four characters that realise that the universe isn't what it seems. They fight for power against someone who has held a long-standing ...
1
vote
1answer
198 views
Can the outline of a short story be reason for plagiarism?
3 years ago a friend of mine shared the outline of a short story ( 1 page) inspired by Wild Swans the fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen.
Last year I began to write a screenplay inspired by the same ...
2
votes
3answers
464 views
In literary fiction, when does allusion, pastiche or intertextuality cross over into plagiarism?
I want to write a novella that to some degree translates Conrad's Heart of Darkness to a modern urban setting, and I want the astute reader to be able to make multiple connections between the two ...
asked Sep 14 '18 at 2:04
Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Monica
8162 gold badges10 silver badges21 bronze badges
4
votes
1answer
219 views
How can I make the plagiarism detector “Ithenticate” identify “θ-continuous” as a single word?
I have a problem with the similarity index of one of my works since the plagiarism detector "Ithenticate" identifies θ-continuous as continuous. In my university, all that matters is the similarity ...
2
votes
0answers
155 views
I have a retracted article for ethical misconduct, this means my career is over? [closed]
When I was in my first year of M.SC. A professor told me to work on a project that the main data were belong to him. He had sent me a early draft and told me to translate it to english so I did along ...
1
vote
1answer
350 views
What is legal and illegal in writing? [closed]
I am planning to write a book in my mother tongue (so excuse my bad grammar). It's in "Business and Management"
So, while I was reading books for my references, I found a well organized book. I took ...
17
votes
8answers
2k views
How do I know which elements I can use from the work which orginally inspired me?
I recently read the Blood on the Stars series by Jay Allan and really enjoyed the idea of a post-Golden Age human civilization that has splintered into factions and is now at war with itself.
I ...
6
votes
2answers
334 views
On copyright infringement and plagiarism
So, I'm writing a novella about this guy named Peter, who is an actor living in LA. In the fall, he comes back to his hometown, a small town in New Jersey, after a gap of three years. He has a large ...
3
votes
2answers
69 views
What are the copyright laws and permission requirements for a teacher using a student's work as an example?
If a teacher makes a writing assignment for students (some would be minors), can the teacher use those writings as examples in the future?
The teacher would examine the writings and provide analysis ...
5
votes
5answers
462 views
I feel like I'm plagiarizing my story? [duplicate]
So my fears are kind of taking over my enjoyment of writing my book because I feel I'm doing something wrong. In my story I stole ideas from other stories. I took the idea of Bioshock's infinite ...
2
votes
1answer
113 views
Can a story be considered plagarism even though its in a different world
If there are two works with the same character name and family type can it be considered a plagiarized work even though the plot is different? One work is about two brothers raised by their father to ...
6
votes
3answers
262 views
Questioning Plagiarism Rules
Who we are, where we came from and how we came to be what we are
This sentence was flagged as plagiarized by Grammarly. So I looked up the cite that Grammarly says I am plagiarizing, and the ...
1
vote
2answers
1k views
Can I copy images from published books and use them in my paper?
When it comes to citing text from someone else's work, the rule is to provide a proper citation and source. Once you do that, you're off the hook. But when it comes to copying images it seems to be ...
5
votes
4answers
348 views
If I unnofficially create a theory and use it in my story, will it have any validity that I'm the author of such theory?
I have some theories that I've contrived, some are philosophical, others are logical or physical, and some are just jokes about life told in a theory format. But I'd like to use some of these theories ...
3
votes
3answers
232 views
If I write a scene almost exactly like in someone's photograph, would it be plagiarism?
I have a story which has a scene inspired by a photograph. When I saw that picture, I liked the fact that the person in it matches perfectly a character from my story, and I liked the idea of putting ...
7
votes
1answer
543 views
What is the correct way to cite a paraphrase of another source?
I am trying to cite a paper that paraphrases a quote from another paper by the same authors. However, 1) it is unclear where the paraphrase starts, and 2) they have not yet published the second paper. ...
2
votes
1answer
71 views
Are About pages copyright?
I am creating a website that serves as a directory of companies within a niche industry. In my site I would like to provide info on each of the companies and was wondering if it was ok for me to use ...
