• ProphetSword1
    • 5 years 5 months ago
    • Posts: 52
    		 Very recently, an article appeared on the front page that was completely copied from Wikipedia. I've seen this happen more than once, whether copied from Wikipedia or another source.

    The sad thing is that these articles don't always go to the back page where they deserve to be, since some folks don't realize they're copied.

    Is there any kind of action taken by RJ against articles of this nature? Personally, I'd like to see them wiped off the site, as a copied article takes no work, and the more people get away with that kind of thing, the more likely someone else is to try it.

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    • System
      • 5 years 5 months ago
      • Posts: 74809
      		 If you believe the article to be plagiarized, alert Vertex of this and direct him to said Wikipedia article for comparison.
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      • echeetah
        • 5 years 5 months ago
        • Posts: 10
        		 We're on the same page Prophet, I totally agree. I reported the most recent instance to Vertex. For the time being, the best we can do is try to banish the article to the Back Page at the very least.

        I generally come here for the articles and I really enjoy reading the ones that are original. When I come across the fakes, it really annoys me and it taints the very nature of the site in my opinion. I would rather have a hundred mediocre-to-crap original articles than 1 purely copied masterpiece. Thankfully, we have a lot of great original writers on this site who make the fakers look like total amateurs and fools.

        Original writers, I salute you!
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        • ProphetSword1
          • 5 years 5 months ago
          • Posts: 52
          		 Should I also alert Vertex to this, or is one person doing it enough?

          For those who want to check on this themselves, the article in question is here:
          http://www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/5173/

          And the Wikipedia article is here:
          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Renaissance
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          • echeetah
            • 5 years 5 months ago
            • Posts: 10
            		 I would Prophet, the more who do so, the greater our chances of success.
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            • ProphetSword1
              • 5 years 5 months ago
              • Posts: 52
              		 I've sent off a PM. That's all I can do.

              Not sure why it bothers me so much, but it just seems dumb for someone to copy and paste work done by someone else and try to pass it off as their own.
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              • velcrohead
                • 5 years 5 months ago
                • Posts: 586
                • Globally Banned
                		 This is not the only article that has been plagiarized recently.

                Here's another article that was also almost completely plagiarized and it is still not on the back page.

                http://www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/5054/

                There was another one that was partially plagiarized recently too. I can't remember where it is, but I noted the plagiarism on the comment section.

                I'm sick of it, personally. First of all, it demeans the work of others who have put thought and heart into their writing. I mean why work hard, especially when you can just crib from Wikipedia, throw in a few cute pictures that make your article fan-wanky and get multiple thumbs up from the (somewhat lax) critics here? Second, it's intellectual thievery from the people who actually DID write the material, and as such could possibly pose a liability to this site.

                I think these offenders should be banned, frankly.
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                • echeetah
                  • 5 years 5 months ago
                  • Posts: 10
                  		 Same here:

                  http://www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/5011/

                  and the same user again:

                  http://www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/5019/
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                  • echeetah
                    • 5 years 5 months ago
                    • Posts: 10
                    		 Article one copied from:

                    http://community.livejournal.com/howtheylooknow/185685.html?page=3

                    Article two copied from:

                    http://howtheylook.com/blog/

                    I know for a fact the RJ user (born 1991) did not create the first blog because the user on livejournal was born in 1987. And these are both still on the front page. The former has a rating of 17.
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                    • velcrohead
                      • 5 years 5 months ago
                      • Posts: 586
                      • Globally Banned
                      		 We need to start checking on these articles and catch these plagiarists early on and expose them so they can get the thumbs down they so richly deserve. And then maybe these idiots will see it happening to others and decide it's not worth trying themselves.

                      Honestly, I really think there need to be more stringent criteria for approving articles. I know that it's fun to have the occasional obvious back-pager to ridicule, but there ought to be some way to weed out the cut/paste jobs and the super-retarded ones. And plagiarism ought to merit a lifetime ban.
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                      • echeetah
                        • 5 years 5 months ago
                        • Posts: 10
                        		 Agreed
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                        • ProphetSword1
                          • 5 years 5 months ago
                          • Posts: 52
                          		 I was just about to post the ones that echeetah posted. Velcrohead pointed out one I didn't even know about.
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                          • echeetah
                            • 5 years 5 months ago
                            • Posts: 10
                            		 Another one was the shadows of the empire article:

                            http://www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/5154/

                            Lifted largely from Wiki:

                            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadows_of_the_Empire
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                            • echeetah
                              • 5 years 5 months ago
                              • Posts: 10
                              		 The user who "wrote" it no longer has an account but the article is still on the front page with a score of 11.
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                              • velcrohead
                                • 5 years 5 months ago
                                • Posts: 586
                                • Globally Banned
                                		 Man, this is more prevalent than I thought.
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                                • echeetah
                                  • 5 years 5 months ago
                                  • Posts: 10
                                  		 Update folks:

                                  The Disney Renaissance article, the 2 Then and Now articles, and the Villains article are off the site.

                                  Thanks Vertex.
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                                  • Vertex
                                    • 5 years 5 months ago
                                    • Posts: 384
                                    • Site Admin
                                    		 I have deleted the articles that were found. I usually try and investigate an article if it looks fishy before I approve it but I don't always have time.

                                    Thanks for the heads up guys.
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                                    • velcrohead
                                      • 5 years 5 months ago
                                      • Posts: 586
                                      • Globally Banned
                                      		 Well done Vertex.
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                                      • Vertex
                                        • 5 years 5 months ago
                                        • Posts: 384
                                        • Site Admin
                                        vkimo wrote:
                                        I wonder if RJ has some sort of copyright protection on submitted articles.


                                        Once they are published on the site they are considered under copyright. At least that is my understanding.
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                                        • ProphetSword1
                                          • 5 years 5 months ago
                                          • Posts: 52
                                          		 Thanks for dealing with them.
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