WHAT ARE THE ORIGINS OF THE WORD PLAGIARISM

Author: Kristen Stewart

The word plagiarism, according to Stephen Moss of The Guardian, derives from Latin roots specifically of ‘an abductor, and plagiare, to steal.

An example of plagiarism would be copying this definition and pasting straight into a report’ (2005, p.1). So there you have it, plagiarism is just another way of saying theft, or stealing, and it’s nothing new. It must be emphasised that plagiarism is not specifically a crime, meaning that you cannot go to jail for it, but it is seen as academic misconduct.

Many famous writers have been accused of plagiarism – for an example, according to Moss, Martin Luther King Jr., plagiarised part of his doctoral thesis (2005). There are also theories that T.S Eliot plagiarised most of his early poetry, Moss cites ‘The Wasteland’, but it can be argued that it goes back as far as The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’, where he ‘borrows’ from French Symbolist poets Jules Laforgue and Charles Baudelaire.

According to onlineclassics.org, Barrack Obama, and Michael Bolton, have both been accused of plagiarism. Michael Bolton was sued $5.4 million in 2000, when it was discovered that his 1991 hit ‘Love is a Wonderful Thing’ was actually a song by the Isley Brothers in 1966; and is the largest settlement due to plagiarism in history (2012).

Barrack Obama publically apologised to Massachusetts Governor Devel Patrick, after Obama used ‘many of the same quotes as well as similar phrasing’ in his 2008 speech (OnlineClassics, 2012). What is interesting about this story is that he also used quotations from JFK and Martin Luther King Jr., and cited these correctly.

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These examples should highlight that nobody is exempt, or can trick the system. However, not all plagiarists can be demonised, as there are occasions when writers, students, scholars, politicians, and writers unintentionally plagiarise, which highlights the importance of throughout references throughout your academic work. Examiners can simply run your essay through Google search, if they are suspicious of the content. It really is not worth it. Plagiarism is an ancient form of theft, but not so ancient is the ways examiners can find it – it sticks out like a sore thumb on a page, and as you know, the consequences are not pretty.

Sources:

Online Classics, (2012) ‘Top Ten Plagiarism Scandals of all Time’, [online]. Available at: http://www.onlineclasses.org/2009/10/21/top-10-plagiarism-scandals-of-all-time/

Moss, S., (2005). ‘A History of Plagiarism (not my own work)’, The Guardian [online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/nov/23/comment.stephenmoss

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