Reusing Papers

[viscousmemories]

I have never done this (or had any occasion to) but is it generally considered academic dishonesty to turn in a paper I wrote for a class at one school to fulfill the requirements of another class at a different school? Or to turn in the same paper for two different classes at the same school, assuming relevance?

[irukandji]

i have been where you are now

and i got over it!! i talked with
trusted colleagues who assured
me the work was STILL mine and
it shouldnt matter what the original
assignment was if the paper still
had relevance to the new assignment

i recycled relevant papers, after being
certain that the web-based references
were still current...

the one drawback is the lost opportunity
to learn something you might only find by
doing new research.....

i got over that too!!!

[Naru]

Some of my professors have specifically stated not to in their classes, but I don't know if that's a general policy.

[ChuckF]

Self-plagiarism. Yes, that is considered academic dishonesty.

[irukandji]

ok, i never heard or read the phrase "self-plagiarism" before....
i was about to turn myself in.... but then!!!!

Self-plagiarism is an issue when writers try to use similar language in more than one published work.



For instance, if someone repeatedly uses the same information in a series of books or articles without attributing it to a former book or paper, it might seem that he has produced more work than he really has.

Read more: Plagiarism Definition | eHow.com Plagiarism Definition | eHow.com

[Deadlokd]

We were expressly forbidden from doing so.

[ChuckF]

Did you present the old paper that you re-used as new material that you wrote for the assignment you were handing in? Did you, by word, deed, or silence, create, foster, or encourage the perception that the paper you were handing in was written to fulfill the present assignment, when in fact it was written for a different, prior assignment? If so, that was academically dishonest.

Very, very few educational assignments are published. That does not relieve students of a duty to be academically honest.

[Demimonde]

Not a good idea. I have reused topics and research, but always do a rewrite. For one thing, it is a different assignment and as such will not suit it as well. Also, a new prof is a totally new audience that you should address differently. Use it as an opportunity to take your thesis in a new, fresh direction. Go broader or deeper into the topic. It will be a better paper for it.

[irukandji]

jesus tapdancing christ!

it seems that niggling "hey, you think it is ok to
resubmit a paper covering a discussion topic in
a different class?" feeling was appropriate, altho
nothing like "double dipping" was mentioned in
the student handbook in the section on academic
and scholastic integrity, just detailed requirements
for attributing quotes and citing reference materials....



Redundant publication has a direct counterpart in the area of academic dishonesty- it is referred to as ‘double dipping’. It occurs when a student submits a whole paper or a substantial portion of a paper to fulfill a course requirement, even though that paper had earlier been submitted to satisfy the requirements for another course taught by a different professor. Many college undergraduates and even some graduate students are not aware that this type of practice is a serious offense and constitutes plagiarism. Of course, as in redundant publication, submitting the same paper, or a large portion of a paper, to two different courses is entirely acceptable if the instructors of both courses were informed by the student of the double submission, and if both agreed to the arrangement. However, some institutions have specific policies prohibiting this practice.

http://facpub.stjohns.edu/~roigm/pla...lagiarism.html

[Ensign Steve]

Shit, does that count for code reuse, too? I always credit the creator if I use or adapt somebody else's code, but I reuse my own shit all the time, too, and I figure I don't have to say anything about where it came from since I wrote it. I've been hopping from school to school so I haven't been caught yet.

[Qingdai]

I did it once, but I had a thesis and a qualitative methods class at the same time. I just cut out most of the research that wasn't qualitative and re-worked the bits to fit the class. Still the professor wasn't happy, but he never mentioned self-plagarism, I told him that was what I was going to do too. Think he might have mentioned it.

Now I feel dirty.

[erimir]

On the other hand, more than one of my professors has suggested that we reuse ideas from class papers to expand into the master's project, or two papers on the same subject or using the same data, or that you can use a single paper for two classes, if you run it by them first.

He said "I don't have good ideas very often, so I try to get 8 papers out of every one."

[Demimonde]

Also, good ideas become great ideas by being revisited, questioned, honed, and refined.

I think that originality is over-emphasized these days. Also, students frequently pick too broad a scope in undergraduate writing, crank out a first draft, and never revist those thoughts again. I think that is a shame. If more students spent more time questioning and refining their thoughts rather than cranking out something new, there would be better students all around.

I encourage students in my workshops and tutor sessions to focus on one aspect of a topic that interests them, and revisit other aspects later on. Or as one prof commented on a draft I submitted early on in my department, "save some for gradschool."

[mickthinks]

Originally Posted by ChuckF

Did you present the old paper that you re-used as new material that you wrote for the assignment you were handing in? Did you, by word, deed, or silence, create, foster, or encourage the perception that the paper you were handing in was written to fulfill the present assignment, when in fact it was written for a different, prior assignment? If so, that was academically dishonest.

Very, very few educational assignments are published. That does not relieve students of a duty to be academically honest.

Mmmm, I love it when you wag your finger, Chuckie!



ETA I don't see there's any ethical issue in a student submitting and a tutor accepting an earlier paper in part or in whole as fulfillment of a later assignment. What could an assignment be testing in a student, such that a previous piece of the student's work which appeared to the tutor to demonstrate it would in fact, by dint of having been submitted elsewhere, fail to demonstrate it?

[Ari]

At the Academy of Art it was considered dishonest to use the same work for two classes and often teachers would assign Fs to those caught double dipping. Most teachers also requested that work be shot for the assignment. I certainly have used images shot for one thing as filler for an assignment or two that were going to be unfinished otherwise.

However it was allowed if you argued your case with the teachers in both classes and got it approved.

[Angakuk]

I have repurposed papers on a couple of occasions, and experienced no sense of guilt over having done so.

[ChuckF]

Originally Posted by mickthinks

ETA I don't see there's any ethical issue in a student submitting and a tutor accepting an earlier paper in part or in whole as fulfillment of a later assignment.

Also, you're an anti-Semite.

[LadyShea]

Srsly you guys? Re-use of your own work being viewed as problematic is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Talk about inefficient! Why should it matter if you wrote it super special just this month, or dusted it off from a year ago?

If 1 piece of work fulfills the requirements of 2 or more assignments (or jobs in my case), and it's my original work, fire up the mimeograph, that shit's getting duplicated.

Academia is weird.

[ChuckF]

Yes, academia is distinct, and has its own set of objectives, expectations, and ethical mores which do not always overlap perfectly with those encountered in other domains. For example, in a business setting there is nothing wrong with entering into a contract with a third party to delegate a task or set of tasks to that party. Indeed, this is how much of the economy functions. In academia, however, hiring third parties to write papers is generally disfavored, and constitutes a serious breach of ethics that is generally accompanied by severe consequences. In business, it isn't unusual to reuse old work product. In academia, assignments are typically understood to call for new work product. Submitting old work and holding it out as new work is dishonest.

That is of course not to say that prior work cannot form a basis for future work and research, or even be submitted with consent of the instructor. This is how expertise is developed. As one specializes, one tends to write a great deal about a fairly narrow field, and it's inevitable that the same ideas and themes recur. As erimir mentioned, it's not uncommon in grad school to use one paper as a basis for further research. For example, my master's thesis was based on a prior seminar paper, and incorporated text from that assignment - with the consent of my advisors. But reusing old papers to avoid doing the new assignment that everyone else has to do is not that.

[Demimonde]

When you consider that education and intellectual pursuit is mission of academia, it makes sense. Recycling ideas, even if they are your own, does not challenge the mind or the status quo. It isn't a matter of work, it is a matter of that pursuit. Resting on ideas already formed without reevaluating them is stagnant.

Also, as it has been said, republishing makes it appear that more work has been done by an individual than is actually the case. Same goes with unpublished coursework. I remember one English major who wrote the same damn paper over and over again for the same class. The Books differed, so the examples were different, but the thesis on Feminism and Post colonialism was exactly the same. She churned out that one thought and belief over and over again. That isn't what education should do. It should broaden perspective, not keep students pigeonholed into their own established ideas.

[inland wave]

Self-plagiarism, oh how it has been preached at school. Yes, we have to cite and reference ourselves as well as others if the work is used in papers. It is a hot topic and have heard the speech throughout my academic career. At University of Phoenix it has been taken a step further. Starting this class session every assignment whether it be team or individual, must have a certificate of original work authenticity signed and attached before it can be graded. Every PAPER!!!!!!
Academia, got to love it.
I will say I have never reused my work, and I agree with Demimonde about doing research to broaden perspective. In core classes it seems that ideas are churned over and over again. I like a challenge, digging deeper into subjects allows me to be objective and learn something new.

[LadyShea]

Thanks for trying to explain to me guys, but I am still a bit confused

Originally Posted by Demi

She churned out that one thought and belief over and over again. That isn't what education should do.

But if her goal was not to become better educated, but rather to get a degree, or park her butt in school for whatever financial or personal reasons, then her "should" is different from yours. Her methods for reaching her goals will necessarily also be different than yours. I don't understand the ethical dilemma, instead I see simply differing values and aims.

Originally Posted by Chuck

Submitting old work and holding it out as new work is dishonest.

Originally Posted by Chuck

But reusing old papers to avoid doing the new assignment

Yes, misrepresentation is dishonest in any form. But why there is a distinction between old and new at all is what is confusing to me. If the assignment is to turn in your own work, why does it matter if it's old or new. You still did the work, correct? If the work is still valid and relevant (of course I completely understand the need to update if there is new data to be included) why is rewriting it an ethical issue at all?

PS: I am sorry I called the whole thing stupid and came across as petulant. This kind of thing is what has kept me out of school my whole life. I hate busy work, and I hate inefficiency, and so that's what I kind of hone in on and get rude about at times. I will try to keep it adult from here on.

[ChuckF]

In my experience it's pretty rare that two assignments in two different courses will, by pure chance, be sufficiently similar to allow an old paper to be submitted. That usually happens when a student consciously chooses a topic that would allow that to happen. At least in American liberal arts settings, students often get substantial latitude in selecting their own topics for writing. So this issue crops up mainly when students make a conscious choice not to explore a new area in a new assignment, but rather to re-use what they've already done.

[Dragar]

Why not just ask your prof?

You should also try to decide what you want out of this course you're doing.

If you want the certificate, there's little point making more work than you want for yourself.

If you want to learn something, there's little point dodging doing the study.

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by ChuckF

That usually happens when a student consciously chooses a topic that would allow that to happen. At least in American liberal arts settings, students often get substantial latitude in selecting their own topics for writing. So this issue crops up mainly when students make a conscious choice not to explore a new area in a new assignment, but rather to re-use what they've already done.

That's a choice I can see one making for any number of reasons. Are you of the opinion that making that choice is unethical in and of itself?

Originally Posted by Dragar

If you want the certificate, there's little point making more work than you want for yourself.

If you want to learn something, there's little point dodging doing the study.

This is kinda what I was trying to say, only you did it betterer