TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: plagiarizing? From:Damien Braniff <Damien_Braniff -at- PAC -dot- CO -dot- UK> Date:Tue, 5 Jan 1999 13:51:53 +0000
To be strictly honest we probably all do at one time or another, whether
consciously or not. It also applies to ideas as well as text so if you see
a nice layout and think "I'll try that" then strictly... I think it really
comes down to a matter of quantity. If you see a nice phrase for
describing, for example, how menu boxes pop-up, drop down etc then,
personally, I see no problem with using it. However, when you get to the
stage where it's a similar product and whole paragraphs/pages bear a
striking resemblance to something else then that's an entirely different
matter.
The only time I've seen stuff like that done was when the work in question
was all within the same company and it was effectively the company's work.
Then it's quite common to cut and paste relevant chunks of duplicate text -
no point in re-inventing the wheel.