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FEBRUARY 3, 2024|WRITING & PUBLISHING


We Need Another Word for Different Types of Plagiarism


We Need Another Word For Different Types of Plagiarism 900x600

Given the recent increased usage of AI tools and the story of the ouster of Harvard President Claudine Gay for plagiarism, it seems we hear about it everywhere. In an op-ed piece all about the word, John McWhorter suggests that perhaps we need a second word to describe instances where ideas aren't truly stolen:

"The term 'plagiarism' is overstretched. Cutting and pasting is not the same as stealing ideas. 'Plagiarism,' as a term, should be restricted to the latter. That means we need a new term for the former."

He goes on to suggest that perhaps cutting and pasting could be that term, used to describe instances where word for word descriptions of elements that are "simple statements of fact" should not be put into the same category as stealing someone's original ideas or thinking. 

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This is a blog about non-obvious ideas. Originally launched on the Typepad platform in 2005 as the Influential Marketing blog, the stories at first focused mainly on digital marketing while Rohit worked at Ogilvy Advertising. In 2015 Rohit officially rebranded to the Non-Obvious Insights Blog and published his WSJ bestseller Non-Obvious. For the past twenty one years, this blog has coined new terms, introduced future marketing practices and inspired the next generation of non-obvious thinkers and marketers.

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