How can you define self plagiarism?

While plagiarism is the act of implementing the research or words of other individuals without attribution, self-plagiarism involves re-using one’s own work. In some communities, self plagiarism is a controversial concept. Some could argue that one cannot steal from oneself. However, there are certain instances in which reusing one’s own work is as improper as regular plagiarism. Although self-plagiarism does not involve theft of intellectual property in the same manner that typical plagiarism does, the act of self-plagiarism does promote a lot of ethical issues in certain contexts. Largely, self-plagiarism becomes an issue when work is presented that should be original. This indicates, for instance, that the majority of work published in magazines or newspapers is probably not going to be viewed as self-plagiarized even when writers recreate some of their own work. Self-plagiarism is largely an issue in academic environments.
Many schools have written procedures against pupils’ reuse of their work in different lessons, and turning in the same paper for two different classes is generally not permitted. The pressures of academia and the importance of publications for academics can result in another kind of self-plagiarism in which studies are recycled for a number of different reports. In response to this, some journals and organizations have designed rules or ethical codes that condemn self-plagiarism.
Self-plagiarism is also a problem when the author no longer retains copyright to the content. In this situation, an author is breaking not just ethical but legal codes. Once a copyright is owned by another person or company, writers are no longer allowed to use work as though it is their own.
However, there are numerous scenarios in which reusing one’s work is acceptable or even necessary. Academics constantly build on previous work, and reference to that work is in many cases inevitable and even required. Academics may also quote themselves. Complaints of self-plagiarism can be best deflected by acknowledging that the work is recycled although some have argued that even this is unnecessary when one is writing for an entirely different audience of readers.

Avoiding self-plagiarism is most effectively achieved by stating the context in which the writing arises, the expectations of the audience and the guidelines encompassing the piece.

Helpful links:

• JISC – plagiarism resources and advice from the Joint Information Systems Committee.
• http://www.plagiarismchecker.net/ – free plagiarism checking software and articles, resources and lesson plans on avoiding plagiarism.
• PlagiarismAdvice.org – JISC’s specific plagiarism advice website.