Do you think it is academic dishonesty to reuse papers you already wrote for a previous class?

[Jacco]

There's a chance that safeassign will flag it, but I've never used that site so I can't say for sure.

I do know however that my school is super cereal about plagerism and I can get kicked from my masters program for doing so.

For the second part, what I mean is like this:

I am writing a paper for a gerontological counseling class on elder care issues. I wrote a paper for a sexuality studies class on "sexuality in dementia care" where I examined the effects of policy in nursing homes and how it limits the rights of the clients with dementia.

Whereas that would be perfect for my current class, I'm going to keep the topic of sexuality in dementia care, but I will examine the issue from the perspective of how it personally affects the client and their partner as opposed to how I originally wrote the paper.

A lot of the information is the same, but I'm changing the perspective of the paper.

Hopefully that helps.

If they are so serious about it, then why did they not kick you out since your paper got flagged? And how did you find out it was flagged without officially submitting it?

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

yeah..I'm gonna say that you would get in trouble for that.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well yes reusing the same stuff will get you in trouble, but nothing you write is perfect so if you just went over it again you could rewrite it into something better.

 

[lacktheknack]

Don't do it. It's hard to comprehend exactly how much excrement you get into when you do academically dishonest things.

 

[trooper6]

Could you please give me an example of how I could make it a new paper?

Another University Professor here:

Listen, the point of taking a class is to learn something and grow. When you write a paper for a class, that paper should reflect they ways in which you have learnt and grown in that class. If you turn in a paper that you already wrote two or three semesters ago, not only is it academic dishonesty (I've turned in multiple students for this) but it does not show any engagement with the class you are actually in. Also, it implies that you have not grown in any way as a scholar or thinker in the last two to three semester. That wouldn't be a good sign if that were true.

You should try to find a new take on the old paper...a take that reflects the growth you've experienced in the class and shows engagement with the material and topics of that course. But if there is going to be any reuse, you should talk to the professor.

So, for example. Let's say you wrote a paper on Silent Hill 2 for a Psychology Class when you were a sophomore. Now you are a Senior and you are talking my Music and Media class. You are still obsessed with Silent Hill 2 and want to write on that for my class's final paper as well.

Now, in the course of my class you've read lots and lots of material on Music and Media. We've discussed ways to think about and analyze music and media. We've worked through some large theoretical issues such as diegetic/non-diegetic and things that don't fall so easily in that binary...or the line between noise and music...or the place of film and video game music in art music cannons.

So if you just gave me your Psychology Class paper on Silent Hill 2 and threw in a paragraph on sound design, I'd know there would be something up. Because the paper would a) be Sophomore level writing, not senior level writing, and b) wouldn't have anything to do with the class.

You could take your knowledge of Silent Hill 2 that you gained while researching the old paper...and even some thoughts on psychology...but you should right a fundamentally new paper about Silent Hill 2 that engages with the topic of music and media.

Schools seem to hate it, which I think is crap. If you wrote the damn thing yourself, why can't you use it again?

Plagiarism is taking something from somewhere else without properly citing it. This includes things that you wrote. In the professional world, if I write an article and publish it, and then write a book...and I want to use stuff from that earlier article I wrote, I have to cite the article. I can't use reuse it without citation. And if I want to use a rewritten version of the original article, I have to get permission from the journal, or no dice. If I don't, the original journal will get really angry...and if they get really, really angry they could block the publication of my book.

Taking an old work and trying to pass it off as a new work...that is really academically dishonest.

 

[WeAreStevo]

There's a chance that safeassign will flag it, but I've never used that site so I can't say for sure.

I do know however that my school is super cereal about plagerism and I can get kicked from my masters program for doing so.

For the second part, what I mean is like this:

I am writing a paper for a gerontological counseling class on elder care issues. I wrote a paper for a sexuality studies class on "sexuality in dementia care" where I examined the effects of policy in nursing homes and how it limits the rights of the clients with dementia.

Whereas that would be perfect for my current class, I'm going to keep the topic of sexuality in dementia care, but I will examine the issue from the perspective of how it personally affects the client and their partner as opposed to how I originally wrote the paper.

A lot of the information is the same, but I'm changing the perspective of the paper.

Hopefully that helps.

If they are so serious about it, then why did they not kick you out since your paper got flagged? And how did you find out it was flagged without officially submitting it?

Because on Turnitin you are allowed to submit several copies until you get a descent rating of plagiarism (0% to 8% is the range). In checking if my paper would be flagged, I didn't officially submit it, I just did a test submission.

And then after seeing that it would be flagged, I re-wrote the entire thing. It really wasn't that difficult either, just a pain in the ass with 5 other papers to write >_>

 

[Hiroshi Mishima]

It's stupid, but that's how it works.

It's around this time that I'm reminded of every time I've ever encountering something that seemed rather stupid or plainly imbecilic, and someone will say "well, that's just how it is." and my response is always "well, then why the hell don't people ever try and change it?"

I realize that with as dogmatically hardheaded as most places/people are, it's probably about as likely to succeed as rolling that boulder up the steep incline.. but the point is still there, and people still haven't satisfactorily defeated it in my eyes.


Of course, this may, in fact, be why I never submitted papers to anyone but a teacher when I was in school college. *shrug*

 

[davidmc1158_v1legacy]

Well, without knowing the details of the paper and the class you are currently taking, I can only speak (er, type) in generalities.

Use your original thesis as a starting point and look at from the perspective of your current class. You can use that as your foundation.

Go back to your research and see if any sources have come up in the topic since you did the first paper. Perhaps some of the conclusions have changed. Or perhaps someone else has come up with a new perspective on the problem.

With the updated research and the newly re visioned thesis, you can build a new paper from the building blocks of the old one and make it truly original work.

This fulfills the criteria for not plagiarizing, allows you to create original work, and has the bonus benefit of allowing you to delve a little deeper into the subject matter and understand it even more.

Hopefully helpful

Well, my problem is this (forgive me for the boring details you dont care about lol)

Three semesters ago I wrote a paper explaining and defending the thesis that Robert E Lee had a heart condition that affected his judgement at Gettysburg and thus caused the Confederacy to lose the battle.

This semester, I am taking a class all about the Civil War (the class is called The American Civil War). You can see why this would be a perfect paper for this specific class.

Any suggestions on how I might be able to apply what you explained?

Alrighty. What I would suggest is perhaps you could expand your original thesis. One tactic could be to expand on those personal aspects of commanders that have affected the outcomes of battles in unexpected ways. (McClellan and his inordinate fear of troops that actually weren't there is one example.)

Another would be to expand the thesis in focusing on the quirks and actions of the commanders at Gettysburg, specifically. (The loss of Stonewall Jackson and the subsequent failure by his replacement to take Little Round Top, or the fatalism of Picket's Charge as a couple of examples.)

Either way, you are creating a new paper and thus creating original work. However, the basic building blocks, research and concepts that were in your original paper are still present. They are being used in a different way, but they are still there in the foundations of the new work.

 

[trooper6]

Well, my problem is this (forgive me for the boring details you dont care about lol)

Three semesters ago I wrote a paper explaining and defending the thesis that Robert E Lee had a heart condition that affected his judgement at Gettysburg and thus caused the Confederacy to lose the battle.

This semester, I am taking a class all about the Civil War (the class is called The American Civil War). You can see why this would be a perfect paper for this specific class.

Any suggestions on how I might be able to apply what you explained?

You should go with an entirely new paper topic.

I just did a bit of googling, and that thesis is already out there. Plus, you already did that.
Your paper should try to bring something new and interesting to the scholarly conversation. This paper is not new or interesting.

Do some more work and find an idea that is really new. That is the way to something important.

Remember, even though you are only submitting this paper to your professor, you want to think of this as something that you might want to present at a conference of other scholars on the Civil War...where you have a good idea what other scholars have said and you have something new to tell them.

A really good paper should be a) not obvious, b) significant

You want greater depth.

 

[Silvianoshei]

Here is my question: why is it academic dishonesty? It's your work, copyrighted. You did all the work, so why can't you continue to reap the benefits?

It's like saying that a textbook's new editions have to be paraphrased every time they comes out, or written from a different perspective! If textbook publishers and professors who write these books, who force students to spend hundreds on inflated textbook prices every semester, don't follow these rules, why the hell should the students have to?

Answer: It's bullshit. Pardon my French.

So if you just gave me your Psychology Class paper on Silent Hill 2 and threw in a paragraph on sound design, I'd know there would be something up. Because the paper would a) be Sophomore level writing, not senior level writing, and b) wouldn't have anything to do with the class.

This would never happen though. If the CLASS is on music and sound in media, then the paper on Silent Hill 2 would be 90% irrelevant except for that one paragraph! What if the paper was 100% relevant, and the class is some BS freshmen course that you are forced to take to graduate, but you already know all the material?

 

[WeAreStevo]

It's stupid, but that's how it works.

It's around this time that I'm reminded of every time I've ever encountering something that seemed rather stupid or plainly imbecilic, and someone will say "well, that's just how it is." and my response is always "well, then why the hell don't people ever try and change it?"

I realize that with as dogmatically hardheaded as most places/people are, it's probably about as likely to succeed as rolling that boulder up the steep incline.. but the point is still there, and people still haven't satisfactorily defeated it in my eyes.


Of course, this may, in fact, be why I never submitted papers to anyone but a teacher when I was in school college. *shrug*

Trust me, I totally agree with trying to change stupid procedure (especially when it's bureaucratic bullshit) but as for the topic of re-using papers...even though I'd LIKE to do it (because it gives me more time to work on other papers) I can understand the deficit to my own educational development by doing so. Long story short, I guess it's not so stupid after all

 

[bluepilot]

You should ask your teacher.

Some are okay with it, as long as you honestly state that this is edit 2 e.t.c of your work. Probably best to call it a modified version and add something new to it.

It would be considered dishonest if you tried to pass it off as previously un-submitted work though. Plus I think you will be required to add more primary sources of date to make the attempt more credible

 

[Jedoro]

Schools seem to hate it, which I think is crap. If you wrote the damn thing yourself, why can't you use it again?

Plagiarism is taking something from somewhere else without properly citing it. This includes things that you wrote. In the professional world, if I write an article and publish it, and then write a book...and I want to use stuff from that earlier article I wrote, I have to cite the article. I can't use reuse it without citation. And if I want to use a rewritten version of the original article, I have to get permission from the journal, or no dice. If I don't, the original journal will get really angry...and if they get really, really angry they could block the publication of my book.

Taking an old work and trying to pass it off as a new work...that is really academically dishonest.

Funny, I don't recall a paper that was turned in, graded, and handed back being published in someone else's journal. It only exists in my possession, doesn't belong to anyone else.

When was the last time an assignment actually specified that you had to write a "new" work? I sure haven't, and life's all about technicalities. I have to write a paper on subject X using Y amount of sources? Well damn, I did that a few years ago. It's my paper, wasn't ever published, and there was no specification that it had to be completely new. Assignments are about seeing if you're capable of doing something, and I don't see why you shouldn't be able to present evidence that you could do the assignment years ago. If you've learned more, then you're still capable, and doing a new paper just to prove that you can is a waste of time.

 

[trooper6]

Here is my question: why is it academic dishonesty? It's your work, copyrighted. You did all the work, so why can't you continue to reap the benefits?

It's like saying that a textbook's new editions have to be paraphrased every time they comes out, or written from a different perspective! If textbook publishers and professors who write these books, who force students to spend hundreds on inflated textbook prices every semester, don't follow these rules, why the hell should the students have to?

Answer: It's bullshit. Pardon my French.

A new edition is the same book with all of the same copyright information.

If I wrote a book called: "An Argument on the Civil War" and sold it to a book publishing company...then later took the same manuscript and retitled it "A New Argument on the Civil War" and sold it to a different book publishing company passing it off as new work...I'd be guilty of fraud and academic dishonesty.

You can reap the benefits of your work. But if you want to use your earlier work, you have to cite it...or if you plan on seriously reworking it (which people will often do with they take an article they wrote and seriously expand if into a chapter of a book they are writing), then you need to get permission and then you need to say that you have reworked X article. Otherwise it is fraudulent and dishonest.

 

[davidmc1158_v1legacy]

Here is my question: why is it academic dishonesty? It's your work, copyrighted. You did all the work, so why can't you continue to reap the benefits?

It's like saying that a textbook's new editions have to be paraphrased every time they comes out, or written from a different perspective! If textbook publishers and professors who write these books, who force students to spend hundreds on inflated textbook prices every semester, don't follow these rules, why the hell should the students have to?

Answer: It's bullshit. Pardon my French.

The difference is that the textbooks are merely updated source material. The paper you're writing for the class is expected to be original work for that class.

Since the goal is to have you learn something new and come to a deeper understanding of the subject, we want you to do NEW work so you can get those benefits. If you simply put forth an old paper, you're getting nothing out of it. No advancement of knowledge, no better understanding . . . .nothing except pissing away your tuition money for no good reason.

A class is an investment. We want you to get a return on it.

 

[Matthew McDonald]

Thanks for the response WeAreStevo!

I have to disagree with trooper6's definition of plagiarism. Every resource I look at defines plagiarism as using someone else's work as your own. I can't see myself ever changing my mind on this no matter how it's presented to me, that using your own work can be plagiarism.

 

[Silvianoshei]

The difference is that the textbooks are merely updated source material. The paper you're writing for the class is expected to be original work for that class.

Since the goal is to have you learn something new and come to a deeper understanding of the subject, we want you to do NEW work so you can get those benefits. If you simply put forth an old paper, you're getting nothing out of it. No advancement of knowledge, no better understanding . . . .nothing except pissing away your tuition money for no good reason.

A class is an investment. We want you to get a return on it.

I totally agree that most classes are an investment. But some aren't. If you're a senior, and you're taking a BS freshman class that you have to to graduate, you already know the material and the class does not bring anything academically new into your knowledge base, why should you have to do the same work twice, when you've already paid your dues and are simply forced to take the class to comply with these arbitrary graduation guidelines?

f I wrote a book called: "An Argument on the Civil War" and sold it to a book publishing company...then later took the same manuscript and retitled it "A New Argument on the Civil War" and sold it to a different book publishing company passing it off as new work...I'd be guilty of fraud and academic dishonesty.

That's not what I'm saying, mate. If I originally wrote a paper called "An Argument on the Civil War" and turned it in for a class, and then I didn't change the name OR try to pass it off as new work, and simply say, "Hey, I already know this stuff; I wrote this paper about it back in 2009, it's still relvant and interesting so here you go," why should I be punished for that?

 

[PHOENIXRIDER57]

Just draw information from it and use it as a source. Don't forget to cite yourself. My college considers it as plagiarism. I believe this is how you get around it.

 

[davidmc1158_v1legacy]

The difference is that the textbooks are merely updated source material. The paper you're writing for the class is expected to be original work for that class.

Since the goal is to have you learn something new and come to a deeper understanding of the subject, we want you to do NEW work so you can get those benefits. If you simply put forth an old paper, you're getting nothing out of it. No advancement of knowledge, no better understanding . . . .nothing except pissing away your tuition money for no good reason.

A class is an investment. We want you to get a return on it.

I totally agree that most classes are an investment. But some aren't. If you're a senior, and you're taking a BS freshman class that you have to to graduate, you already know the material and the class does not bring anything academically new into your knowledge base, why should you have to do the same work twice, when you've already paid your dues and are simply forced to take the class to comply with these arbitrary graduation guidelines?

Well, as one of the folks that teach those 100 level classes, we're going to have to disagree on the BS or lack of BS-ness in those courses. However, the potential for you to obtain something new from the class is always there, even if you are familiar with the subject. Heck, every semester I learn something new in the topic, myself.

"Life is like a sewer. What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
- Tom Lehrer from The Remains of Tom Lehrer

 

[trooper6]

When was the last time an assignment actually specified that you had to write a "new" work? I sure haven't, and life's all about technicalities. I have to write a paper on subject X using Y amount of sources? Well damn, I did that a few years ago. It's my paper, wasn't ever published, and there was no specification that it had to be completely new. Assignments are about seeing if you're capable of doing something, and I don't see why you shouldn't be able to present evidence that you could do the assignment years ago. If you've learned more, then you're still capable, and doing a new paper just to prove that you can is a waste of time.

Most Universities have Codes of Academic Conduct and Integrity. Not reusing work is on that list of academic dishonesty, so I don't have to put it on every assignment sheet.

For example, here is Tufts University's booklet on Academic Integrity:
http://uss.tufts.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/Academic%20Integrity.pdf

Pg 9 states: "Never use the same paper twice. It may seem like a legitimate time-saver, but unless you?ve received permission from both instructors to use a single paper in two courses, either may charge you with an academic integrity violation. You may be guilty of this offense even if you make additions or changes in the paper for one of the courses."

Pg. 45 notes that reusing the same paper twice is a a Level 2 violation where the grading consequences are "?Zero? or ?F? on the work without the ability to resubmit it for a replacement grade" or "Automatic course grade consequence of anywhere from one letter grade reduction to ?F?" The disciplinary consequences are "Probation Level II (Transcript nota- tion?expunged after four years)" and "Required meeting with Academic Resource Center"

So, you may think it is fine for you to do this, but if you are at most Universities they don't. You do it in my class, you get a 0 for that assignment and I turn you over to the Dean. Then you are on probation and your academic dishonesty is marked on your transcript.

I've taught at three Universities now and attended another two...all of them have similar policies.
There really is no way for you to "technicality" your way out of that, at least none of the students I've turned over to the dead for that exact same behavior have ever talked their way out of it.