What is Mosaic Plagiarism?

In the academic and professional field, plagiarism is a serious ethical issue. Among its various forms, mosaic plagiarism stands out due to its subtlety and complexity.

It involves piecing together ideas or copying of phrases from multiple sources and presenting them as original without proper acknowledgment. This article looks into what mosaic plagiarism is, its implications, and how it can be detected and avoided.

What is Mosaic Plagiarism?

Mosaic plagiarism (or patchwork plagiarism) occurs when a person borrows phrases from a source without using quotation marks or finds synonyms for the author's language while keeping the original structure and meaning intact.

It can also involve mixing copied material from several different sources to create a seemingly new larger piece of content.

Where on the Plagiarism Scale Does Mosaic Plagiarism Fall?

Mosaic plagiarism typically falls on the moderate to severe end of the plagiarism scale. This categorisation is due to the deliberate nature of the act.

It involves skillfully interweaving various sources and altering parts of the original text—such as by substituting synonyms or slightly modifying the structure—while maintaining the core information. This creates a deceptive appearance of originality and can be quite difficult to detect.

The severity of patchwork plagiarism comes from the intent to mislead or deceive regarding the authenticity of the work.

It is viewed as more serious than accidental plagiarism or improper citation, which might occur due to negligence or lack of understanding of citation styles or rules. However, it might be considered less severe than complete plagiarism, which involves directly copying entire works verbatim without any acknowledgment.

Nevertheless, because it demonstrates a calculated effort to conceal plagiarised sources, it is treated with significant concern in academic and professional contexts.

Examples of Mosaic Plagiarism

A student could take information from several textbooks and online articles, slightly change the sentence patterns and replace a few words with their equivalents, and then use this information in their paper without giving credit to the original sources.

A false impression of originality is created by this mix of changed and unchanged texts.

Here are some examples to illustrate how patch writing plagiarism might manifest:

Research Paper: Imagine you rewrite snippets from journals without citing them. Your paper looks original, but it's a patchwork of borrowed ideas.

Blog Post: Compiling an SEO guide? Don't just copy phrases and alter sentences from different sources without crediting them!

Business Proposal: Someone writing a business proposal might look at a few online plans that have already been written.

They take parts of each one, like risk assessments or market analyses, and make small changes to the words. This collection is given as a unique work without giving credit to its sources.

Literature Review: To write a literature review, a scholar takes many passages from different sources, changes the words to synonyms, and rearranges the lines so that they fit into their own writing. Under the cover of a new review, this process makes a piece that is very similar to the originals.

Software Documentation: Using existing online resources to explain complex concepts is great, but rewriting them without attribution creates a fake "original" document.

Academic Paper: A student uses information from several journal articles to write a study paper. While they change some words and phrases, the main ideas and structure stay the same from one part to the next. Each part is put together without proper sources, which makes it look like the student wrote the whole thing.

Remember: Always cite your sources! It protects you from plagiarism accusations and shows you've done your research.

Why Does Mosaic Plagiarism Occur?

It occurs due to a variety of reasons:

• Lack of Awareness: Individuals may not fully understand what constitutes plagiarism or how to cite sources correctly.
• Pressure to Succeed: Academic and professional pressures can push individuals to cut corners in their work.
• Poor Time Management: Working at the last minute can make you do desperate things, like putting together pieces of information without giving credit where credit is due.
• Inadequate Research Skills: Some may not have the skills required to synthesise information properly and rely on directly copying and slightly modifying existing content.
• Perceived Ease of Evasion: People may think that changing a few words will prevent online plagiarism detection tools from identifying them, which makes it an enticing short cut.

Why is Mosaic Plagiarism a Problem?

This form of plagiarism poses several significant problems:

Undermines Academic Integrity: It violates the principles of honesty and originality that are foundational to scholarly work, misleading educators and peers about the authenticity of the knowledge and effort involved.

This article is originally published on the Bytescare Blog.