Plagiarism is the representation of another person’s language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one’s own original work. Although precise definitions vary depending on the institution, in many countries and cultures plagiarism is a violation of academic integrity and journalistic ethics, as well as of social norms around learning, teaching, research, fairness, respect, and responsibility. As such, a person or entity that is determined to have committed plagiarism is often subject to various punishments or sanctions, such as suspension, expulsion from school or work, fines, imprisonment and other penalties.
Not all cultures and countries hold the same beliefs about personal ownership of language or ideas, and plagiarism is typically not in itself a crime. However, like counterfeiting, fraud can be punished in a court for prejudices caused by copyright infringement violation of moral rights or torts. In academia and in industry, it is a serious ethical offense. Plagiarism and copyright infringement functionally overlap, depending on the copyright law protection in force, but they are not equivalent concepts, and although many types of plagiarism may not meet the legal requirements in copyright law as adjudicated by courts, they still constitute the passing-off of another’s work as one’s own, and thus plagiarism – Credit and Reproduced from Wikipedia.
I came across yet another published article recently, one that felt eerily familiar. Not because it echoed a shared thought, but because it was blatantly “lifted”. Word for word. Idea for idea. No credit. What a crying shame. Just quiet theft, dressed up as an original representation.
It is both infuriating and disheartening to see one’s thoughts, words and effort lifted without so much as a mention of the original author. What makes it worse is when this “intellectual theft” finds its way into the pages of a newspaper, which is meant to uphold truth, credibility and integrity.
We often hear the comforting line “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. But let us be honest. That is not imitation. This is plagiarism. And there is nothing flattering about stealing someone’s else hard work and parading it as your own.
In an age where content is created with painstaking effort and enormous passion – creating a personal voice, plagiarism is not just laziness, it is intellectual dishonesty. It insults the creator, deceives the reader, and corrodes the very credibility of platforms that publishes such work. There is enough that is written about the pain that the author of the original piece of writing feels and endures, as they feel the “voice” of their writing.
What makes it worse is the audacity. When websites clearly state that all material is copyrighted and require permission for use, ignoring it is not ignorance – it is wilful violation. It reflects a mindset that believes shortcuts are acceptable, that accountability can be avoided.
Writers deserve respect. Their ideas are not free commodities to be picked and pasted. Each sentence carries thought, experience, and identity. To steal that is to erase the author’s voice while falsely amplifying another. Are we so desperate to “create” content that we have begun to reward imitation over originality? Are we willing to trade credibility for convenience? When editors fail to question, and when readers fail to notice, plagiarism quietly wins.
And worse, there are well known and highly feted lawyers who mockingly take pride in facilitating and making their wards get away with blatant violation of ethics.
To those who plagiarize, if you cannot write, do not pretend to do so by borrowing ideas. They are not writers. They are impostors hiding behind stolen sentences. As an extension, this applies not only to writing, but images (photographs), drawings and ideas.
This is not a minor issue to be brushed aside. It is a growing problem that demands strict scrutiny. Editors must take responsibility. Readers must question authenticity and those who indulge in plagiarism must be called out not quietly but firmly. Because if we normalise this, we are not just tolerating plagiarism – we are endorsing mediocrity and discouraging, if not burying genuine original talent.
On the face of it it may appear that the strong comments are somewhat alarming. The sad truth is that this is a sad reflection of the short-cuts being taken by so called scribes for quick results. There has to be concerted action from all quarters – readers, media and most importantly the writers themselves to raise their hands and improve their standards of integrity.
Lucid and nicely written piece by Ms. Mamatha Subbaiah.
Plagiarism has been a huge issue in academics but has become particularly worse after it became very easy to do so through “copy and paste” exercise.
Earlier it was rather difficult to trace as copying was happening from material that was of course in print or in theses and dissertations but was not accessible online and detection was quite difficult. Now, when something is plagiarised from content that is available online, then calling out is easy.
My Monograph on Devarakadus in Kodagu has been plagiarised by some of the top “scientists” in the country. Not just my ideas but the figures and statistics from the files (going back to the middle 1800s) from the archives which ONLY I have accessed at the Records Office in the Fort in Madikeri! The other “scientists” have never been to the Records Office and have never seen these Files! But have liberally used data from my work without any acknowledgement!
Well, anything goes in academics too, besides in journalism.
Brilliantly written! I appreciate Mrs. Mamatha’s dignified way of choosing topics. She captures the frustration and ethical decay caused by plagiarism with striking honesty. And as articulated what many writers feel but hesitate to say. A powerful and hard hitting piece.
While Ms Subbaiah’s article is excellent, the Comments by CLN readers have brought much flavour to the concept of plagiarism.
Paraphrasing a text by changing a few words or altering the sentence structure without citing the source – is akin rephrasing someone else’s idea. This is gimmicky to make it seem like you came up with the idea!
It is so easy these days to “catch” plagiarism – instead take permission where necessary and give proper credit. It is good journalistic practice and the ethical way of doing things.
This comment applies to professional conduct – journalism included:
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA.
” The education which does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle for life, which does not bring out strength of character, a spirit philanthropy, and the courage of a lion–
Is it worth the name? Real education is that which enables one to stand on his own legs.”–(VII. 147).
उत्तिष्टत जाग्रत भारत।
I have always wondered the relevance of posting a comment on Online Newspapers – but CLN does such an earnest job, against all odds, in keeping the discourse on extremely relevant topics for Kodagu. In particular Ms Mamatha Subbaiah should be congratulated and encouraged for her single minded passion and fearless approach to journalism – a standard that others will benefit from emulating.
If the “educated” writers and photographers indulge in such practices, where are we headed? And it is the duty of responsible readers to stand up and make the community and world at large take note of such “offenders”. It goes against the grain of our cultural ethos.
I recently chanced upon an article on Rice written in a leading and well respected National Daily which had obvious resemblance to the views expressed in an outstanding culinary treatise. The specific reference to the landscape, varieties of rice and alarming resemblance to the ideas expressed in the book, has been flagrantly reproduced. The concerned author has no previous background on the topic in any of previous writings to bring out such an erudite article – what does it take to acknowledge the source? Or has the article been ghost written? This must STOP.
The article by Ms M Subbaiah is gutsy, most relevant and actually represents the angst she feels when it goes against the grain of Kodava character. Going through Appanna Ajja’s book of translated poems, a Kodava is characterised by his/her HONESTY, INTEGRITY, UPRIGHTNESS….
So the question of “copying” without credit and passing off someone else’s work as one’s own was truly looked down upon. It is understandable that people want to attain instant fame or for that matter perform beyond their inherent capacity – but what does it take to get permission, acknowledge the source and give credit to the original creative. The problem is perhaps attitudinal – the ego comes in the way!
Since I have extensive experience in the hospitality industry, I can vouch that the image below is perhaps the most misused picture in the most senseless locations – Commercial Community Halls, Sports Bars, Hotels and so on. And when they are approached to take it down or delete from the website, there is angry consternation. As Jammada Ganesh and Ms Subbaiah correctly suggest – such serial offenders should be “called out” and media establishments should be on alert to BOYCOTT such characters.
Forthright and extremely well written article. It makes the point with clarity leaving no senses of ambiguity in interpretation.
Writing is a gift. It can be cultivated, but in most creative arts, it takes literally a lifetime of work to develop one’s stamp of authentic authority. By all means – quote the original author for words, ideas, images and so on – but it is incumbent upon the “borrower” to give credit and in some instances take prior permission. I should know what I am talking about since I am a poet of writer in Kannada and Tulu since 1989, but actively for over the past decade.
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Good article and well written. Surprisingly such activity is undertaken by the so called educated and enlightened, which is incorrect and should be stopped in their tracks or boycotted.
Very well written. Bravo. I want to pinpoint one experience of mine. I am birder from Mumbai, so one famous personalities in our field of birding, do the copying of books on their name. I saw one book which was exactly copied by original book and idea from Birds of Shri Lanka. Don’t want to name it. Just wanted to share with you all.
Hard hitting article!
It’s easier now to detect, having AI as tool. Eventually plagiarists will get called out. Would you mind sharing the article in question?
Leave out names if we’re entering uncharted territory!!😎
It is now an art 😅 – deplorable.
Another brilliant and hard hitting article by Mamatha on a topic of extreme relevance. For many, Plagiarism is a word which probably has no place in their dictionary. As students we all know how we used to brand our fellow classmates who didn’t burn midnight oil for the next days exam but preferred to copy from his benchmate who would have not slept all night preparing for the exam next day. Why struggle and spend sleepless nights when my intelligent friend would burn midnight oil was the standard question. SO LETS ALL UNDERSTAND COPYING STARTED VERY EARLY FROM OUR SCHOOL DAYS AND SADLY GOT ENDORSED DOWN THE LINE BECAUSE IT WASNT TREATED AS A CRIME THOSE DAYS and easily got passed off which paved way for shortcut in academic excellence.
Next came the ubiquitous COPY PASTE facility on our PC and MS WORD which made COPYING aka PLAGIARISM so very easy that many so called “Writers” considered it their right and privilege to use the COPY PASTE TOOL AND GET AWAY AS IF THEY HAD WRITTEN IT ALL BY THEMSELVES WHEN MOST WOULD NOT QUALIFY EVEN TO COMPLETE ONE GOOD SENTENCE FULLY ALL BY THEMSELVES.
Well having said this the most important issue about PLAGIARISM is ETHICS. Lets forget the technology of COPY PASTE which has made plagiarism easy. But where did our basic ethics vanish? Any self respecting individual would never resort to copy pasting any matter without the original authors consent. What would be lost if we sought the permission of the original author to reproduce the original matter. It’s human EGO WHICH DOESNT PERMIT US TO ASK FOR PERMISSION; FROM THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR BECAUSE WE WANT TO PRESENT OURSELVES AS BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL. This EGO and ONEUPMANSHIP actually destroys original creativity, thinking, ideas which shall have extremely dangerous consequences where we are slowly destroying originality.
Let’s all for a while think of the humongous effort and time spent on creating and writing something original. What a tragedy it is to copy paste something which was created over Years within a few minutes and pass of as ones own. IT SIMPLY IS AN UNPARDONABLE CRIME WHICH HAS TO BE PUNISHED WITH HARSHEST “SENTENCE”, LEST WE OURSELVES KILL CREATIVITY AND ORIGINALITY.