Plagiarism (Re)Defined: Why Attribution Matters More Than Ever in a Postplagiarism World

People often ask me, “How do you define plagiarism?” The first thing I need to say is that there are no universal or singular definitions of what plagiarism is. Notions of plagiarism are culturally and contextually bound, and they have changed over time.

In my book,Plagiarism in Higher Education: Tackling Tough Topics in Academic Integrity, I have an entire chapter dedicated to contextualizing and defining plagiarism. Before that, I did a comparative analysis of how 20 universities define plagiarism. (Spoiler alert, there’s no consistency across institutions.)

There are about half a dozen types of work can be plagiarized and all of them involve using someone else’s work without attribution. There might be more and we could probably argue about that, but we might be able to boil them down to these six types of works:

• Text
• Ideas
• Data
• Code
• Music
• Design
• Art

This helpful graphic from Chapter 2 in the book, shows the categories as part of a single collective. This is intentional because all kinds of creative works can be taken and used by someone without giving any credit to person(s) who created them.

If you are developing or revising your institutional policies around plagiarism or academic integrity, consider making it explicit in your policy how you define plagiarism.

What’s the Opposite of Plagiarism?

The most important part of defining plagiarism is to think about its opposite, which is attribution.

The simplest definition of attribution I can think of is, giving credit where it is due.

Attribution is not about the technical minutiae of citing and referencing, although it can include those things if we really want to get picky about it, but at its core, attribution is about paying respect to those who created a work and honouring them for it.

Postplagiarism

At the end of the book I talk about postplagiarism or how artificial intelligence impacts our understanding of creativity and co-writing together with AI. (You can read more about postplagiarism here.)

With a postplagiarism approach, we are really focused on attribution and honouring those who came before us. When we consider postplagiarism, we also consider what it means to decolonize academic misconduct. We focus instead on building the practice of giving credit where it is due, rather than the search-and-destroy or crime-and-punishment approach that so many academic misconduct policies adopt.

Of course, if someone is deliberately trying to pass of someone else’s work as their own, that needs to be addressed and that’s why we need definitions in the first place. If you are going to define plagiarism, then think about going beyond text and beyond ideas, because there are other kinds of creative works to be considered.

The Difference between Plagiarism and Copyright

Of course, plagiarism in educational settings is slightly different than in commercial work because in schools and universities, copyright is less of an issue. But in industry, plagiarism and copyright are entangled so tightly, they can be difficult to pull apart. Adrian Sheppard at the University of Alberta has a great resource for students on understanding the difference between plagiarism and copyright (at least for the Canadian context).

Recommended Actions for Addressing Plagiarism

Addressing plagiarism is not only a student responsibility. 

For Educational Institutions (and educational leaders)

Policy Development

1. Review and update institutional plagiarism policies to explicitly define what constitutes plagiarism across all creative works, not just text:
   • Written content
   • Original ideas and concepts
   • Data and research findings
   • Computer code and software
   • Musical compositions
   • Design work
   • Artistic creations

Implementation Strategies

1. Develop comprehensive attribution guidelines that:
   • Focus on the principle of “giving credit where it is due”
   • Go beyond technical citation rules
   • Address attribution across different types of creative works
   • Consider AI-assisted work and postplagiarism concepts
2. Create educational resources that:
   • Clearly distinguish between plagiarism and copyright
   • Explain attribution requirements in different contexts
   • Provide examples of proper attribution across various media

For Educators

Teaching Practices

1. Implement a proactive approach to plagiarism prevention by:
   • Teaching attribution as a form of respect and recognition
   • Demonstrating proper attribution practices across different types of work
   • Discussing cultural and contextual variations in attribution expectations
2. Adopt a educative or restorative rather than punitive approach by:
   • Focusing on building good attribution habits
   • Teaching students how to properly credit different types of sources
   • Addressing plagiarism while supporting learning

For Students and Content Creators

Best Practices

1. Develop strong attribution habits:
   • Credit all types of creative works, not just text
   • Understand attribution requirements for your specific context
   • Learn how to properly cite AI-assisted work. 
   • Ask for help. How to cite, reference, and give attribution can vary from one context to another, so ask for help on how to meet the expectations of those you report to, whether that is a teacher, a boss, or a client.
2. Build awareness of:
   • Different types of works that require attribution
   • The distinction between plagiarism and copyright
   • Cultural variations in attribution expectations

For Policy Makers

Policy Development and Reform

1. Update academic integrity frameworks to:
   • Include comprehensive definitions of plagiarism
   • Address emerging technologies and AI
   • Consider decolonial approaches to academic integrity
   • Balance enforcement with education
2. Develop clear guidelines for:
   • Attribution across different types of creative works
   • Handling AI-generated content
   • Supporting proper attribution practices

All of this takes time, effort, and resources. A key message I wanted to conclude with here is that addressing plagiarism is about more than ‘crime and punishment’ or ‘search and destroy’. It is about developing sustainable systems, policies, and practices that set up students for success over the long term.

Check out some of my previous articles from my personal blog related to this topic:

21st century definition of plagiarism

Preface and Intro: Plagiarism in Higher Education: Tackling Tough Topics in Academic Integrity 

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About the author: Sarah Elaine Eaton, PhD, is a Professor in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary.