Posting essays here = plagiarism?

"The improper use of the computer files and programs of others may constitute academic dishonesty. The instructor who is responsible for specifying the way in which the work is to be done determines the degree of permissible co-operation among students. Students who allow their computer files or assignments to be copied are as guilty of academic dishonesty as those who copy. Each student is responsible for protecting his or her computer file by keeping the password secret and changing it frequently."

If I post my essay for revision in this forum, would my school penalize me for plagiarism according to the info above since my essay is easily accessible?

it's a legitimate question.

I don't think so, otherwise I wouldn't post material for revision here.

still, I read a plagiarism tutorial and it said that you can "plagiarize" YOUR OWN work if you submit it to two different places.

but I don't think this qualifies as a submission. its explicit purpose is for revision. of course some professors don't see it that way. I wouldn't risk it unless you are sure that your professor is not some weirdo who would like to make your life miserable vis a vis him/her being a miserable person.

your definition is kind of vague, I would play it safe if I were you

Posting essays to get advice about how you should revise is not plagiarism, and would not be considered as such by most professors. If you are worried, though, you could always ask your professor if using this forum is okay. He can hardly accuse you of plagiarizing by using this site if he has explicitly given you permission to do, after all.

The quoted text most likely relates to your computer class policies. I suspect you take a computer/programming class in a group of students where it's 'easy' to copy the computer code which sometimes may take weeks to write. If one student writes the code, others could easily copy it and receive a credit.

Here we don't deal with computer projects :). If one student writes an essay and five other students try to submit the same essay, it would be very easy to catch.

Including your real name which is automatically attached to your posts is the best way to protect yourself from plagiarism.

Nov 17, 09, 09:30am - Attached on merging:
Plagarism?

Could one be accused of plagiarism from posting their essay on this site?

What if I post an essay to get feedback, revise it, and send it to colleges and they discover that my essay has been posted online (and are unaware that I was the one who posted it). Could there be bad consequences?

No. You are the author no matter where your writing gets posted, printed, or said. Now, if you took my writing and posted it for revision without crediting me as the author of the original, that would be plagiarism. Also, if any of your work includes that from another author and you fail to cite that author correctly, you would be guilty of plagiarizing that author's work.
Plagiarism is a fancy way of saying "stealing." If you are not stealing, you are not plagiarizing. Beware, though, when putting something you learn into your own words that you really put it in your own words. If your words too closely resemble another's, it is called paraphrasing and should be cited as such.

Hope this helps! It was an excellent question, but try not to be too paranoid. Just remember to give credit where credit is due and you will be fine.

Blue skies!

Jeannie

Yes, but Awesomeness did not use her/his real name when creating an account! So, the thing to do is start a new account with your full name, and then it will appear next to every essay you post.

If I ever heard about a student being penalized for participating in a scholarly forum, I'd be very interested in talking to the misguided administrator behind it.