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Journalism & Media vocabulary · Media Ethics and Law

Plagiarism

Meaning in journalism & media, with examples

/ˈpleɪdʒərɪzəm/nounCommon term

In journalism & media, plagiarism means: Using another person's words, ideas, research or images and presenting them as your own without giving credit.

In Turkish: intihal, aşırma, başkasının yazısını kopyalama

How it is used

A serious breach of ethics that can end a journalist's career. Outlets investigate, discover or are accused of plagiarism. Copying another outlet's exclusive without credit is a common form. The verb is plagiarise (UK) or plagiarize (US).

Example sentences

  1. The columnist was suspended after readers found plagiarism in three of her articles.

  2. If you use another paper's scoop, credit them, or it could be seen as plagiarism.

Common collocations

  • accused of plagiarism
  • act of plagiarism
  • plagiarism scandal
  • plagiarised material
  • conflict of interestA situation in which a journalist's personal, financial or family interests could influence, or seem to influence, how they report a story.
  • accuracyThe quality of being correct in every fact, name, number and quote, which is the first duty of a journalist in most codes of practice.
  • columnistA writer who produces a regular column for a newspaper, magazine or website, giving personal opinions, analysis or advice.
  • sourceA person, document or organisation that gives a journalist information for a story; also the place where a piece of information comes from.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Media Ethics and Law

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