3.3 Writer's Workshop: Blog Post

Mini-Lesson: Using Information Ethically

Before you start your own blog post it is important to consider the topic of plagiarism and copyright. You are essentially summarizing the work of a number of people in your blog post so it is important that you do it correctly. In that way, you are creating new content yourself based on the work of others. 

What is plagiarism?

"Many people think of plagiarism as copying another's work, or borrowing someone else's original ideas. But terms like "copying" and "borrowing" can disguise the seriousness of the offense:

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means
1)   to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
2)   to use (another's production) without crediting the source
3)   to commit literary theft
4)   to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.

In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward.