Plagiarism is perceived as a problem but it is often discussed in simplistic terms: “using someone else’s words without telling whose they are or where you got them” and “stealing other people’s ideas or words”. This basic view of plagiarism comes directly from the Latin source of the word, which meant to kidnap a person, referring only to children or servants or slaves: people who could in some sense be owned.

Since we own earlier, or current, teaching experiences, we have continued to explore plagiarism wearing at least two different hats. As teachers, we have sought to understand not only why students plagiarize and via what methods, but also how those on the receiving end of plagiarized texts go about both recognizing and then managing these particular infractions. As writers, editors, and proofreaders we also hold a keen interest in plagiarism as a kind of literary experimentation akin to college, assemblage, cut-up, and other forms of materials repurposing or remediation. In both domains, our have found plagiarism to be a vexing, inspiring, and amusing topic, and one rich with legal aesthetic, ethical, pedagogical, and even religious implications.

We are primarily concerned with plagiarism – and plagiarism detection – in today’s institution in higher learning and particularly in the realm of student writing. In that sense, we approach plagiarism as both writers and teachers. In both domains, we have held an abiding interest in plagiarism – and the related issues of piracy, pastiche, sampling, and intertextuality in artistic practice – throughout our career. We wrestled with these issues as graduate students teaching composition for the first time. When we encountered plagiarism, in an introductory writing course at a large state university, we found ourselves instantly propelled into unfamiliar territory. In this particular case, the evidence was glaring, we writers culpable and contrite, and the punishment uncomplicated: in accordance with our policy and the writer got kicked out of our company and was left without an option of a rewrite. Future infractions – of which there were none, to our knowledge – would have resulted in stiffer penalties, such as permanent expulsion and suspension from our company.

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