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The Ethicist

Can I Use the Same Paper for Multiple College Courses?

By Chuck Klosterman

• May 31, 2013

When I was in college, I’d sometimes write a single paper that would satisfy assignments in more than one course. For instance, I once wrote a paper on how “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” expressed satire; I submitted it for assignments in both my poetry course as well as my completely separate satire course. I did not disclose this to either professor. When I share this with people, half call the practice cheating, and the other half call it genius. My niece told me it would certainly be grounds for expulsion at her college. In my mind, I was adding a level of intellectual complexity to my studies. Was this an ethical practice, or was I cheating? JOE, CONNECTICUT

As I read and reread this question, I find myself fixated on the idea that this must be unethical, somehow. I suppose my knee-jerk reaction could be described like this: Every professor is operating from the position that any assignment she makes is exclusive to that particular class, even if she doesn’t expressly say so at the onset (in other words, it’s simply assumed that work done for a specific class will be used only for that specific class). It’s as if you were breaking a rule that was so over-the-top obvious it may not have been overtly outlined. But you know what? The more I think this over, the more I find myself agreeing with your position. I don’t think this is cheating. I wouldn’t say it qualifies as “genius,” and it might get you expelled from some universities. Yet I can’t isolate anything about this practice that harms other people, provides you with an unfair advantage or engenders an unjustified reward.

I look at it like this: You were essentially asked two questions that shared a common answer. The fact that you could see commonalities between unrelated intellectual disciplines is a point in your favor. Some might call your actions self-plagiarism, but the very premise of stealing your own creative property is absurd. You’re not betraying the public’s trust. It seems strange only because the assignments involve a degree of creativity. If this had been a multiple-choice physics test you failed to study for — yet were still able to pass, based on knowledge you acquired from an applied-math class taken the previous semester — no one would question your veracity.

It’s possible to argue that you were “cheating yourself” and wasting your own academic experience — but that’s not an ethical crossroads. That’s more of an existential dilemma over the purpose of a college education that (in all probability) you paid for. In the abstract, the notion of using the same paper twice feels wrong — and if you contacted your old school and told them this anecdote, it would most likely cite some rule of conduct you unknowingly broke. But fuzzy personal feelings and institutional rules do not dictate ethics. You fulfilled both assignments with your own work. You’re a clever, lazy person.

E-mail queries to [email protected] , or send them to the Ethicist, The New York Times Magazine, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018, and include a daytime phone number.

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How to Reuse Papers & Avoid Self-plagiarism when Retaking Class

Reuse Papers & Avoid Self-plagiarism

If you are taking a class you did before or your friend completed, you may be tempted to submit the same papers. In this post, we explain how to reuse old papers and effectively avoid self-plagiarism when you are re-taking classes in college.

If you do it right, you will do just fine. However, you may be flagged for plagiarism if you do not handle it well. To understand this better, let us first know what self-plagiarism is.

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What is Self-Plagiarism

Self-plagiarism can be defined as using one’s previous work in a new context without citing the previous use of the work.

In college or universities, self-plagiarism takes the form of using your old paper in another class and presenting it to your professor as a new one.

It does not really matter the type of work, whether an essay paper or any kind of data. It is dishonest to present work that you have already received credit for.

Just as writers are required to cite other writers’ work, they must do the same to their own previous work, especially when they retake a class.

Another form of self-plagiarism occurs when authors of a certain study separate aspects of the study to aid in several different publications.

Self-plagiarism can be a form of copyright infringement when the research used has been previously published.

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How to Avoid Self-plagiarism when Re-taking a Class

If you retake a class and want to reuse papers, the most effective ways to avoid self-plagiarism are paraphrasing, referencing, changing the topic, and using past work as a model for new ones in the new course.

Others include using the sources only and getting inspiration from them. Let’s discuss each of these in detail.

1. Paraphrasing Past Papers to Remove the Similarity

Paraphrasing can be defined as using your own words to write a paper or work almost the same length as the original to avoid plagiarism.

In order to paraphrase your own work and make it new again, you can:

• Change your sentences’ structures and ensure they do not lose their meaning.
• Change the voice. This can be done by changing the passive voice to the active voice and vice versa.
• Replace generic words with their synonyms to create new sentences.
• Change parts of speech and also clauses to phrases.

2. Cite your Previous Papers Appropriately

Citing your own work can help you avoid self-plagiarism. This can be simply done by creating your own work that you presented earlier as an unpublished paper.

For example, if Sean Wright wanted to cite something that he had included in his work in the year 2016, one may cite it in the current paper as:

Wright (2016) argued that the population increase in Chicago has led to increased regional insecurity (p. 9).

If the work had citations from other sources, the same citations must also be included in the new work. For example, if Sean Wright, in his previous work, had cited Catherine White, the new citation would be:

According to Wright (2016), demographist Catherine (2014) provides several effects of population increase on the country’s economy (p. 12).

Citing when summarizing other sources.

It is important to cite even when summarizing to show where your information and ideas came from. There are three forms of citing when writing summaries for academic submission:

• The use of narrative citations.
• Combining narrative citations with parenthetical citations.
• The use of periodic citations.
• The use of reminder phrases.

The study ideas are clearly shown through these citations, and their origin is known.

If you disagree with this, you can request help writing non-plagiarized papers from a homework help expert.

3. Changing the Topic of your Past Essays

Changing the topic can help you as a writer avoid self-plagiarism. It will help you research the topic from a different view and reframe your ideas to fit a different purpose.

You will mostly avoid duplicating your ideas on the previous topic. Pass through your previous work to ensure no similarities between the current and the previous work.

When dealing with strongly held views, the probability of plagiarism is high, and the writer must anticipate this in advance before writing.

Treating the new topic as someone else’s work will help increase the focus and reduce the chances of possible plagiarism.

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4. Use the Sources used in your Previous Papers

When reusing previous papers, it should be purposely to support new ideas and not replace them.

Previous content can support a new point you are putting across or provide extra information on the topic you are writing about.

Remember that the text you are writing must be original.

Writers should try minimizing the usage of old sources to minimize the chances of self-plagiarism.

 5. Use your Past Papers as Inspiration

One can refer to successful past papers for motivation. You can remember the strategies you used to write the paper and apply the same strategies to write new work.

Instead of reusing old papers and getting flagged off, you can effectively avoid self-plagiarism by using them as models, especially when re-taking your class.

How does Turnitin know if you reused old papers?

Turnitin has a database with records of all content submitted through it. Turnitin also has agreements with several academic proprietary databases.

As we determined in our guide on whether Turnitin detects self-plagiarism, it is easy for the scanner to know your own plagiarism. Turnitin compares the content in its database with the content submitted to identify plagiarism in a document.

FAQs on Self-Plagiarism and using Past Papers

Can you copy your own work without plagiarizing.

Yes, you can copy your own work without plagiarizing if the previous document is not duplicated to look similar to the new one and by citing the sources of your already published content in the new content.

Can you plagiarize your own work on Turnitin?

No, this is because Turnitin keeps a record of your papers, and therefore it can notice similarities in the new paper.

However, you can request your paper be returned to you, and plagiarism in your new paper will not be detected if the paper is not on the database. One should note that plagiarism under any circumstance is unethical.

If I Retake a Class can I use the same papers?

Yes, you can, but this will be self-plagiarism and can land you in trouble with your teacher for cheating. However, you can use your old papers as inspiration for writing new ones.

When you present your previous ideas in a new essay, you will not have plagiarized. The notion that you can use your work repeatedly because you are the author is dubious.

How can I copy and paste without plagiarising?

Copying and pasting content directly can easily be noticed by plagiarism checkers.

Therefore, writers should paraphrase the copied work using their own words to avoid plagiarism. Writers can cite their work and use quotes and references to escape the plagiarism test.

Can I use the same paper for two classes

Papers submitted in one class or already published work cannot be used again in another class. It is unethical.

To reuse content, one should paraphrase, cite, and reference or quote it in the new paper.

Can you use the same paper in two different classes?

No, when submitting the same kind of paper in different classes, make significant changes to make the papers look different. The paper checked first will make the other plagiarized, leading to low or no credit for your work.

Can you plagiarize the dictionary?

Yes, you can plagiarize the dictionary if you don’t properly attribute the source of information.

How much work is being copied, the purpose and nature of the work, and the view of the copyright holder can determine the fair use of dictionaries regarding copyright violations.

Can you plagiarize even if you cite the source?

If you correctly cite the sources of information and adhere to the rules of the different citation styles in your content, you’re not guilty of plagiarizing. However, citing is not enough. One must paraphrase, quote, and reference the content to increase the chances of avoiding plagiarism.

Can you accidentally plagiarize?

Yes, you can accidentally paraphrase by forgetting to cite the sources of the content, failing to show references, and by forgetting to quote words said by different people in your content.

Poor paraphrasing can also lead to accidental plagiarizing; therefore, one must master the skill perfectly.

Can you go to jail if you plagiarize?

Legally, plagiarism has consequences. Copyright laws term plagiarism a criminal offense and give authors the right to sue plagiarists. The plagiarist can pay fines or serve a prison sentence if found guilty.

Can teachers and professors tell you if you have plagiarised?

Yes, most experienced and knowledgeable teachers and professors who have come across many writing contents can easily identify plagiarism and the original sources.

Students may change some sentences, which may make lecturers not notice plagiarism. Lectures, in turn, use plagiarism checkers.

What do you do if you get caught plagiarizing?

If you are guilty of plagiarizing, own the blame and don’t give excuses, and apologize to the owner of the original work that you plagiarized. You should also apologize to the recipient who you planned to deceive.

Is using paraphrasing tool cheating?

Writing is a skill different from paraphrasing. If one is poor at paraphrasing or does not have enough time to go through bulky content and paraphrase it, using paraphrasing tools to get the content paraphrased cannot be termed as cheating.

Is it okay to copy and paste if you cite?

No, plagiarism checkers will not spare the copy-pasted work in the presence of citations. Therefore, you should paraphrase and quote the content where necessary before submitting the paper to the instructor.  

Can you get expelled from school for self plagiarism?

You can get expelled or suspended from school if your paper clearly shows self-plagiarism.

If you submit a paper you had previously submitted or published online without stating that it was used, your school can easily take disciplinary measures against you.

Watch more on the issue of self-plagiarism from an educational point of view

With over 10 years in academia and academic assistance, Alicia Smart is the epitome of excellence in the writing industry. She is our managing editor and is in charge of the writing operations at Grade Bees.

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• What Is Self-Plagiarism? | Definition & How to Avoid It

What Is Self-Plagiarism? | Definition & How to Avoid It

Published on February 7, 2022 by Tegan George and Jack Caulfield. Revised on September 14, 2022.

Plagiarism often involves using someone else’s words or ideas without proper citation , but you can also plagiarize yourself. Self-plagiarism means reusing work that you have already published or submitted for a class. It can involve:

• Resubmitting an entire paper
• Copying or paraphrasing passages from your previous work
• Recycling previously collected data
• Separately publishing multiple articles about the same research

Self-plagiarism misleads your readers by presenting previous work as completely new and original. If you want to include any text, ideas, or data that you already submitted in a previous assignment, be sure to inform your readers by citing yourself .

Table of contents

Examples of self-plagiarism, why is self-plagiarism wrong, how to cite yourself, how do educational institutions detect self-plagiarism, frequently asked questions about plagiarism.

You may be committing self-plagiarism if you:

• Submit an assignment from a previous academic year to a current class
• Recycle parts of an old assignment without citing it (e.g., copy-pasting sections or paragraphs from previously submitted work)
• Use a dataset from a previous study (published or not) without letting your reader know
• Submit a manuscript for publication containing data, conclusions, or passages that have already been published without citing your previous publication
• Publish multiple similar papers about the same study in different journals

Examples: Self-plagiarism

• Reusing text from previous papers
• Simultaneous submission
• Recycling data

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While self-plagiarism may not be considered as serious as plagiarizing someone else’s work, it’s still a form of academic dishonesty and can have the same consequences as other forms of plagiarism. Self-plagiarism:

• Shows a lack of interest in producing new work
• Can involve copyright infringement if you reuse published work
• Means you’re not making a new and original contribution to knowledge
• Undermines academic integrity, as you’re misrepresenting your research

It can still be legitimate to reuse your previous work in some contexts, but you need to acknowledge you’re doing so by citing yourself.

It can be legitimate to reuse pieces of your previous work, but you need to ensure you have explicit permission from your instructor before doing so, and you must cite yourself .

You can cite yourself just like you would cite any other source. The examples below show how you could cite your own unpublished thesis or dissertation in various styles.

Example: Citing an unpublished thesis or dissertation

• Chicago style

In addition to plagiarism software databases, many educational institutions keep databases of submitted assignments. Sometimes, they even have access to databases at other institutions. If you hand in even a portion of an old assignment a second time, the plagiarism software will flag it as self-plagiarism.

Online plagiarism checkers not affiliated with a university don’t have access to the internal databases of educational institutions, and therefore their software cannot check your document for self-plagiarism.

In addition to our Plagiarism Checker, Scribbr also offers a Self-Plagiarism Checker . This unique tool allows you to upload your own original sources and compare them with your new assignment. It will flag any unintentional self-plagiarism, in addition to other forms of plagiarism, and helps ensure that you add the correct citations before submitting your assignment.

Scribbr’s Self-Plagiarism Checker

Online plagiarism scanners do not have access to internal university databases, and therefore cannot check your document for self-plagiarism.

Using Scribbr’s Self-Plagiarism Checker , you can upload your previous work and compare it to your current document:

• Your thesis or dissertation
• Your papers or essays
• Any other published or unpublished documents

The checker will scan the texts for similarities and flag any passages where you might have self-plagiarized.

Yes, reusing your own work without acknowledgment is considered self-plagiarism . This can range from re-submitting an entire assignment to reusing passages or data from something you’ve turned in previously without citing them.

Self-plagiarism often has the same consequences as other types of plagiarism . If you want to reuse content you wrote in the past, make sure to check your university’s policy or consult your professor.

If you are reusing content or data you used in a previous assignment, make sure to cite yourself. You can cite yourself just as you would cite any other source: simply follow the directions for that source type in the citation style you are using.

Keep in mind that reusing your previous work can be considered self-plagiarism , so make sure you ask your professor or consult your university’s handbook before doing so.

Most institutions have an internal database of previously submitted student papers. Turnitin can check for self-plagiarism by comparing your paper against this database. If you’ve reused parts of an assignment you already submitted, it will flag any similarities as potential plagiarism.

Online plagiarism checkers don’t have access to your institution’s database, so they can’t detect self-plagiarism of unpublished work. If you’re worried about accidentally self-plagiarizing, you can use Scribbr’s Self-Plagiarism Checker to upload your unpublished documents and check them for similarities.

The consequences of plagiarism vary depending on the type of plagiarism and the context in which it occurs. For example, submitting a whole paper by someone else will have the most severe consequences, while accidental citation errors are considered less serious.

If you’re a student, then you might fail the course, be suspended or expelled, or be obligated to attend a workshop on plagiarism. It depends on whether it’s your first offense or you’ve done it before.

As an academic or professional, plagiarizing seriously damages your reputation. You might also lose your research funding or your job, and you could even face legal consequences for copyright infringement.

Most online plagiarism checkers only have access to public databases, whose software doesn’t allow you to compare two documents for plagiarism.

However, in addition to our Plagiarism Checker , Scribbr also offers an Self-Plagiarism Checker . This is an add-on tool that lets you compare your paper with unpublished or private documents. This way you can rest assured that you haven’t unintentionally plagiarized or self-plagiarized .

Compare two sources for plagiarism

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. & Caulfield, J. (2022, September 14). What Is Self-Plagiarism? | Definition & How to Avoid It. Scribbr. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/plagiarism/self-plagiarism/

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Is It Plagiarism to Use the Same Essay Twice?

• October 3, 2022

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Did you know that it’s plagiarism to use the same essay twice?

Self-plagiarism is one of the most common types of academic misconduct. It’s fairly understandable because it seems like you should be able to reuse your own paper. But by nearly all academic (and sometimes professional) standards, submitting a paper twice is plagiarism.

Because this is confusing, let’s take some time to look at what self-plagiarism is, and why it can get you into a lot of trouble. 

What is self-plagiarism?

Self-plagiarism is defined as submitting a paper written for one purpose as the fulfillment of a different assignment. Mirriam Webster defines it even more specifically: “ the reuse of one’s own words, ideas, or artistic expression (as in an essay) from preexisting material, especially without acknowledgment of their earlier use.”

Self-plagiarism can occur in any kind of writing but is most common in scholarly writing for classes or publication. It can also occur in professional writing ranging from business documents to work-for-hire writing (like blogs, for example). In each of these cases turning in an old paper is plagiarism, but the reasons are slightly different.

Why is it plagiarism if you use your own work twice?

 It seems tempting to ignore or discount self-plagiarism as a less-significant form of misconduct. Some even wave it off altogether because reusing your previous work does no material harm to another writer like other forms of plagiarism do. 

So why, exactly, is reusing a paper plagiarism? As we said above, the answer is slightly different for different types of writing.

In academic settings

For students in high schools or colleges/universities, plagiarism policies are put in place to ensure both academic integrity and the intended learning outcomes for writing assignments. In high school, writing assignments are designed to teach a particular set of skills that students will need in the future, whether that’s in college or in the workforce.

In colleges and universities, writing assignments are designed to accomplish any number of things

• Teach academic writing processes
• Teach research skills
• Simulate real-world tasks
• Prepare students for graduate study or professional work
• Assess learning
• Meet designated curricular goals

This is why professors generally specify that a paper for a course must be original work. The assignment must meet the intended goals.

When students reuse portions of previous papers, they are not creating original work. Submitting the same paper in two different classes, reusing an original paper for one course in another, means that you have not met the guidelines in at least one of those courses. 

Sometimes professors safeguard against this form of plagiarism by creating very specific paper prompts that would not likely be useful for any other course, and that allow them to easily assess if a student has submitted an assignment from another course. Some professors will change the prompt each semester, in case a student has to retake the class or has sold their work to a writing service.

Even so, it is not uncommon for students to reuse their work in another class. And due to the growing use of plagiarism checking software, it’s easier than ever to catch. 

In published work

For those who are publishing their work, self-plagiarism may cause even more significant problems. If an author submits writing that recycles their previously published work, without citing that work as a source, they have most likely violated copyright laws. 

When writing is published, the words and ideas generally become the property of the publisher. A close look at a publication contract for a book or academic journal will reveal that the author no longer owns the words or ideas outright. Or, as American Journal Experts puts it:

While you are still the intellectual owner of the ideas and results, the publication is property of the journal. As such, reuse of that material without citation and/or permission is not acceptable. While this is counterintuitive, in the eyes of the law, reusing your own words is copyright infringement, even if you wrote them.

What this often means for seasoned academics is that they will need to cite their own work just like all others when citing sources. While this can make for some verbal gymnastics, it’s the only way to effectively avoid self-plagiarism. 

In professional writing

Outside of academia, it’s still plagiarism to use the same essay twice in many cases. This may be particularly true if you work in an industry where writing is part of your job regularly. Legally, reusing a piece of writing may be a contract violation.

Let’s say, for example, that you work in marketing. If you are asked to create a blog post for an employer or a client, then generally the completed blog post doesn’t belong to you. 

This is called “work-for-hire.” You were paid to create the blog, and the employer has purchased all rights to the work. If you use that same blog, or part of it, for someone else, you have stolen the property of the organization that has paid for it. 

This can also be true for those writing reports, grant proposals, and even computer code.

How do I avoid self-plagiarism?

The good news is that self-plagiarism is fairly easy to avoid. 

Here are 3 ways:

• Do original work: If you don’t reuse your own papers, it’s not plagiarism.
• Cite your sources: If you use material from previous work, cite the previous work just like you would cite any other source.
• Use a plagiarism checker: software like Copyleaks’ Plagiarism Checker can help you to catch even inadvertent reuse of your own ideas and words, and to catch it before it becomes a problem.

In short, it is plagiarism to use the same essay twice. Copyleaks can help keep you safe!

Find out what's in your copy.

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Plagiarism is the act of presenting the words, ideas, or images of another as your own; it denies authors or creators of content the credit they are due. Whether deliberate or unintentional, plagiarism violates ethical standards in scholarship ( see APA Ethics Code Standard 8.11, Plagiarism ).

Writers who plagiarize disrespect the efforts of original authors by failing to acknowledge their contributions, stifle further research by preventing readers from tracing ideas back to their original sources, and unfairly disregard those who exerted the effort to complete their own work.

To avoid plagiarism, provide appropriate credit to your sources by adding author–date in-text citations for direct quotations and ideas (e.g., credit the originators of theories). If you model a study after one conducted by someone else, give credit to the author of the original study.

If you wish to reprint or adapt tables, figures, and images or to reprint long quotations or commercially copyrighted test items, you must provide more comprehensive credit in the form of a copyright attribution and may need permission from the copyright holder to use the materials. Even images from the internet that are free or licensed in the Creative Commons need a copyright attribution if you are reproducing them in your paper. For more information about copyright and permissions, see Sections 12.14–12.18 of the Publication Manual (7th ed.).

Plagiarism and self-plagiarism are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Sections 8.2 to 8.3 and the Concise Guide Sections 8.2 to 8.3

Related handout

• Avoiding Plagiarism Guide (PDF, 144KB)

What specifically “counts” as plagiarism?

Although many cases of plagiarism are straightforward (e.g., passages of text copied from another source without attribution), other cases are more challenging to evaluate. Usually, using incorrect citations (e.g., misspelling an author’s name, forgetting or mistyping an element in a reference list entry, or citing a source in the text that does not have a corresponding reference list entry) is not considered plagiarism if the error is minor and attributable to an editorial oversight rather than an intentional attempt to steal someone’s ideas. However, such errors may still result in deductions on an academic assignment or a request for revision of a manuscript submitted for publication.

Publishers and educators may use plagiarism-checking software (e.g., iThenticate, Turnitin) to identify cases in which entire papers have been copied, passages of specified lengths match, or a few words have been changed but content is largely the same ( the latter is known as patchwriting ).

Self-plagiarism

Self-plagiarism is the presentation of your own previously published work as original; like plagiarism, self-plagiarism is unethical. Self-plagiarism deceives readers by making it appear that more information is available on a topic than really exists. It gives the impression that findings are more replicable than is the case or that particular conclusions are more strongly supported than is warranted by the evidence. It may lead to copyright violations if you publish the same work with multiple publishers (sometimes called duplicate publication ).

What specifically “counts” as self-plagiarism?

Some institutions may consider it self-plagiarism if a student submits a paper written for one class to complete an assignment for another class without permission from the current instructor. Using the same paper in multiple classes may violate the academic integrity policy, honor code, or ethics code of the university.

However, incorporating previous classwork into one’s thesis or dissertation and building on one’s own existing writing may be permissible; students who wish to do this should discuss their ideas with their instructor or advisor and follow their university’s honor code, ethics code, or academic policies when reusing their previous work.

In specific circumstances, authors may wish to duplicate their previously used words without quotation marks or citation (e.g., in describing the details of an instrument or an analytic approach), feeling that extensive self-referencing is undesirable or awkward and that rewording may lead to inaccuracies. When the duplicated material is limited in scope, this approach is permissible.

General guidelines for using an acceptable amount of duplicated material are in the Publication Manual in Sections 1.16 and 8.3.

An exception to the prohibition against self-plagiarism is publishing a work of limited circulation in a venue of wider circulation. For example, authors may publish their doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis in whole or in part in one or more journal articles. In such cases, authors would not cite their dissertation or thesis in the article text but rather acknowledge in the author note that the work was based on their dissertation or thesis.

Similarly, an article based on research the authors described in an abstract published in a conference program or proceeding does not usually constitute duplicate publication. The author should acknowledge previous presentation of the research in the article’s author note.

Seek clarification from your journal editor or course instructor if you are concerned about duplicate publication or self-plagiarism.

Can I Submit the Same Work to Two Different Classes?

Is it considered plagiarism if I submit a paper in one class that I already submitted for a different one?

Thank you for your email and inquiry! Whether or not the act of submitting a paper to a different class is appropriate will depend on your instructors. You will need to ask both instructors whether they are comfortable with you submitting prior work or already completed work. If you do not receive their mutual approval, then you will be committing plagiarism.

Hope this helps!

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Last Updated: Oct 03, 2023 Views: 7079

It is a violation of SNHU’s Academic Honesty policies to submit the same paper for two classes without prior permission from the instructor. This is referred to as "Multiple Submissions" or "Self-Plagiarism." Please refer to the SNHU Academic Integrity Policy for the University College (UC) This link opens in a new window and/or the SNHU Academic Integrity Policy for the Global Campus (GC) This link opens in a new window for specific definitions and details.

SNHU has provided the resources on this page to help individuals learn more about copyright laws and issues. However, SNHU cannot be responsible for the accuracy or completeness of third-party links. This page is intended to be educational in nature and is not meant to constitute legal advice.

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Using the same paper for two classes?

<p>I was just wondering about this. If one wrote a paper and submitted it for two classes (the classes have similar paper topics), would this be considered plagiarism? Has anyone done this?</p>

<p>I’ve never been in a position to do this, but I do know that in every class that I’ve had to write an essay for, the teachers have explicitly told us not to reuse papers we’d written for other classes.</p>

<p>I’d ask the teacher when the situation actually comes up. I’ve had teachers say it is plagiarism (though that seems a little absurd to me…), but I think there are others who would be okay with it, if asked.</p>

<p>I think it depends on the school. At my old college they specifically stipulated that re-using papers was considered plagiarism (I don’t know how you could plagiarize yourself).</p>

<p>It probably won’t work, anyway. The paper will be tilted towards one of the classes and you’ll get a lousy grade for the other one.</p>

<p>Professional academic ethics says that 25% similarity is acceptable - so if you can “spin” the paper topic towards the other course with that ratio, it could work. But in my experience, you’ll probably do better with an entirely different topic.</p>

<p><a href=“I%20don’t%20know%20how%20you%20could%20plagiarize%20yourself”>quote</a>.

[/quote] </p>

<p>That’s oddly funny. I sort of plagiarized myself today by rehashing the a paper I wrote last semester by the same teacher. It was the same assignment anyway and it wasn’t word for word. Both papers were for an Anthropology class and the question was a one page assignment on defining oneself.</p>

<p>My school considers it plagiarism, or at least, a form of academic dishonesty. Honestly, though, I think you’d have a harder time trying to write one paper that fits two sets of requirements (despite similar topics) than you would writing two separate papers. Also, you shouldn’t count on your professor not being able to tell that your paper wasn’t specifically written for that class. </p>

<p>What might work, though, is if you write a paper for a class and then ask the professor of the other class if s/he’d consider letting you use the first paper as the basis for the second (obviously not using it word for word but perhaps expanding on the topic and doing more in-depth research).</p>

<p>I’ve turned in a paper 4 times, but I’ve reworked it each time. I wrote it first semester sophomore year and then had an assignment second semester where it fit nearly perfectly. I edited it some for content and turned it back in, and then last semester two classes had writing assignments where it would work, although one required a pretty drastic (~75%) rewrite. I’ve mentioned it to each professor and they’ve always thought it was funny and didn’t care. So yeah ask your professor.</p>

<p>I would just take one paper, write it for one class… then take it edit it for the other class enough that its not completely similar. If the topic is similar I don’t even see how I could churn out a 2nd paper after the 1st one @_ @ my brain would be dead.</p>

<p>I rehashed my college essay several times for many applications… different from this but you see how this sorta goes.</p>

<p>at my school it is plagarism.</p>

<p><< --Virtuoso –</p>

<p>I was just wondering about this. If one wrote a paper and submitted it for two classes (the classes have similar paper topics), would this be considered plagiarism? Has anyone done this? >></p>

<p>It’s been quite some time since I was in school, but I consider it one of my proudest academic accomplishments AND a great lesson in time management.</p>

<p>I two very involved papers assigned and due at the same time one of my years… one paper for English/Writing and the other for Political Science. With the rest of the my workload plus “extracurricular” activities AND a job, there was simply NO WAY that I’d ever be able to do two entirely different papers with any quality, much less finish them at all.</p>

<p>So, I sat down and thought long and hard to come up with a single topic that would satisfy both classes. It’s been too long so I can’t remember what topic I arrived at, but each teacher approved the topic and I essentially killed two birds with one stone. I do recall having to make a slight alteration to the concluding paragraph for one class, but they were essentially the same paper. I got an A on one and an A- on the other.</p>

<p>It wasn’t cheating or plagiarism committed against myself… it was a lesson in resource management. I fulfilled all the requirements demanding of both classes AND did not have to risk having any of the other aspects of my schooling and life suffer for it.</p>

<p>At my school, we’re supposed to get prior approval from both instructor’s to use a paper for two classes the same semester. If we reuse (or largely reuse with some editing) a paper from a previous semester, we need to get approval from the current instructor. Our school considers violations of this policy to be academic dishonesty, but not plagiarism.</p>

<p>You can most certainly plagiarize yourself. In academia, this is almost as bad as just copying somebody else’s work.</p>

<p>It’s not so much the idea of stealing… as it is of trying to say you did work which you didn’t. If you use previously written material, cite yourself. I’m not even kidding.</p>

<p>so why isn’t it plagiarism to submit the same essay to two different colleges?</p>

<p>It is.</p>

<p>Just because nobody calls you out on it, or you don’t get caught, doesn’t change the fact that it’s plagiarism.</p>

<p>It is considered academic dishonesty at my school (though not necessarily plagiarism). Also, if you don’t do significant revising, it’ll probably be obvious.</p>

<p>Submitting the same essay to two different schools via the Common App is accepted - that’s why the Common App exists. However, you are expected to write as separate essay for each school within their supplement - and theoretically, you shouldn’t use them twice.</p>

<p>There’s a website devoted to plagiarism. It goes into some detail about what it is and why people frown on it.</p>

<p>I would say that even in an essay you’re submitting to multiple places, it should be noted at the bottom. If it’s an essay you already wrote in class, say, and you just find it lying around, note that on the bottom of the essay.</p>

<p>Otherwise, you’re implying that you sat down and wrote that specific essay with the intent of sending it one and only one place, and while it’s not a very important matter (usually), it’s still dishonest.</p>

<p>Here at Villanova, it’s considered plagiarism to reuse an essay without explicitly asking permission (and getting it) from the professor who you are handing it into the second time.</p>

<p>I don’t see how it’s plagiarism. The key phrase in any definition you’ll find of plagiarism is taking * someone else’s * work and passing it off as your own. Yourself is not someone else. It makes no sense. And I say, hey, if CommonApp lets you submit the same essay to multiple colleges, then how is it plagiarism? Answer: It’s simply not.</p>

<p>not allowed at my school</p>

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Can i use the same Method Section for two different papers?

I did a survey on the demand for complementary medicine among patients of the gynaecologcial department here in Munich. We collected a couple of hundred questionnaires and I am currently writing two different papers: one dealing with our findings concerning the cancer patients and another about the results from our patients in pregnancy and after birth. I finished the first one and I am currently sitting on the second one. I am wondering now: obviously, the introduction and discussion sections are completely different, but my method section is more or less the same. Can I simply use my method section verbatim also for the other paper? The papers will be submitted to two different journals in the end.

• publications
• research-process
• paper-submission

Copying entire sections verbatim between two papers is generally considered self-plagiarism and/or dual-publication. It's frowned upon academically, and may trigger additional unwanted review by plagiarism-detection software.

However, some disciplines- particularly those in the medical sciences- have come to accept that duplication of text between Methods sections of different papers such as in your situation is inevitable. Check with your adviser to be sure this is OK in your discipline (and potentially the editors of the journals you are submitting to), but copying the core of the methods section should not be objectionable.

Note that there are some good practices to follow when doing so. At a minimum you should provide a citation in the methods section to each companion paper explaining that this survey had multiple objectives when it was designed. You should also be able to provide some text describing why the described methodology is suitable for addressing the central question of this particular paper, and why the results from each of the companion papers don't affect the results of this particular paper.

Please note that duplication of text across other sections, especially results and data sections, is always considered a major academic offense.

• 1 Thank you David for your fast reply! i came up with this now "At the same time, the survey was conducted with patients in pregnancy and childbed, the objective being the assessment of the demand for integrative medicine among patients pertinent to maternity care. The report on these findings is subject of another research paper. The conception and design of the questionnaire were such that it was suitable for both patient groups. Due to different clinical profile and situation, we looked at the two groups separately in order to avoid mutual interference." Do you think this is sufficient? –  Nikolas Kareem Narayan Schrger Commented Sep 13, 2017 at 16:24

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