Plagiarism

(1) Plagiarism v Copyright
Plagiarism
A breach of plagiarism will occur when an author (YOU) produce a piece of work containing the work of others, but without giving proper credit for their contribution. This is commonly enforced by schools and universities.
Copyright
On the other hand, breach of copyright has legal consequences. Copyright infringement results when a person uses someone else’s proprietary work, without authorisation or compensation for using the tangible property.
Whats the difference?
Copyright is essentially a severe form of plagiarism. Copyright infringement can be pursued (however unlikely) when the copied part is deemed “substantial”. However, what is seen as “substantial” is anyone’s guess. Some have required that whole portions must be copied to raise legal consequences; others have merely seen 4 bars of a flute riff enough to sue (thank you Men At Work).
(2) Classnotes Stance
Plagiarism & Copyright
The moral of these explanations, is that copying should not be encouraged, no matter how minor. Even grabbing big slabs of original works and then merely paraphrasing can be still seen as plagiarism and even copyright infringement (“derivative works”).
Classnotes therefore does not condone any plagiarized or copyrighted material on our site.
Consequences of Plagiarism
Minor breach: Consequences will be an immediate warning to your Member’s account. You only receive one warning per account. Two warnings will result in a banned account for an indeterminate period of time.
Major breach: Consequences will be an immediate closure of your account and ceasing of all membership privileges for Classnotes.
The distinguishing between minor and major breach relies on the sole discretion of Classnotes. Factors taken into account include: amount of plagiarism, intent of the seller, extent of notes in conformity with our Terms.
But how can I submit my notes?
At Classnotes, we understand that notes are a lot of the time heavily influenced by lecture outlines, lecturer speeches and textbooks (often written by the lecturer). Consequently, the risk of plagiarism can be high.
However, at Classnotes, we have devised a simple checklist you should always go through before submitting your notes in order to see if you notes are up to scratch.
Plagiarised or Abusive Content
If you see any content (notes) that you believe to be in breach of this Plagiarism Policy or is offensive or abusive content, please notify us.
(3) Classnotes Anti-Copy Checklist
1. Give credit to the authors
Direct citations: If you have cited material from lecturers or authors, be sure to footnote them in order to give credit to those authors. If there have been direct use of materials (i.e. a copied textbook graph), ensure that these a directly cited.
Indirect citations (Majority of Notes): Obviously subject notes bear striking differences to that of essays. They are highly influenced by lectures and spoken word.
As such, it can be harder to cite directly due to loose use of formal works. At the very minimum, please try to cite any influence of author’s or lecturer’s at the start or end of your notes.
2. Keep direct quotes to a minimum
By keeping direct quotes short and sweet, you minimize the risk of copyright, as well plagiarism. Paraphrasing and/or complete re-writes of texts are preferred. It shows that you have internalized the work and made a work of your own.
3. Do not copy already submitted notes
Classnotes will not allow users to download and re-submit others’ notes as their own. Not only is it wrong and unfair to the student who has worked hard to make them, it is illegal. You are stealing the property of another student. If caught, you will be banned at the very minimum. Do not do it.
4. Finally, use your common sense!
You’re are all smart, driven and conscience university students. By now, you should know the difference between right and wrong, copied and original. We expect that anyone submitting works to our site, understands these rules. We merely spell them out to make sure to rid any ambiguity or confusion.
(4) A Final Word…
At the end of the day, Classnotes does not hold the resources to strictly police plagiarism or copyright, unless it is brought to our direct attention. The responsibility is yours to follow (see Terms of Use). If discovered, the minimum penalty will be a banning from this website.
This site’s main purpose is to create a useful and supportive student tool. If it is abused and mistreated, it will not last!