Plagiarism, Ghostwriting, Boilerplate, and Open Content

Abstract

This chapter explains to business people, administrators, and educator/trainers what plagiarism is and is not, and explores authorship ambiguities such as ghostwriting, templates, boilerplate language, collaborative/ team writing, and open content. It argues that two key features of plagiarism are the intent to deceive and lack of consent from the original author(s). Furthermore, whether the environment is an academic or work environment plays an important part in determining whether plagiarism has occurred, because academic settings impose stricter standards on borrowing. However, if both the original author and the borrowing author are aware of the origination of words and consent to their re-use, and the issue involves template or boilerplate language, or incorporates acknowledgement of influences, help, or collaborative contributions, it does not constitute plagiarism. Clarifying differences in standards and expectations of the academic and workplace environment will help business people better understand the ethical boundaries for practices of acknowledgement and attribution.