It pains me to say this, but college students aren’t the only folks who plagiarize.  Grant writers do it, too. I know someone who plagiarized more than a few times by lifting my writing and putting it into grants she was “writing.”

Practically speaking, every time she plagiarized from a grant that I had written, she committed fraud and she harmed my reputation.  Clients don’t like it when they think they are paying for original work and they learn that they are getting a product that has been cut and pasted from someone else’s document.

The worst part was that she didn’t think it was a big deal.

But it is a big deal.

Plagiarism is fraud.

If someone made a widget and someone else stole that widget and then passed it off as his/her own, it would be clear to everyone that a theft had occurred. Theft of ideas and written work (even small portions of written work without proper attribution) is just as damaging, particularly to those of us who earn out living with our thoughts and writing.

Plagiarism.org has some good information what does and does not constitute plagiarism and how it can be prevented.