Should we make an Anti-Plagiarism Rule?

[Reppuzan]

I know this is impossible to enforce and I know that this is probably going to get shot down, but could we at least make a rule to encourage users to not copy-paste off other wikis?

It's lazy, unethical, and generally makes our wiki look bad when compared to other wikis that actually write their own content.

Unless it's an official description, there's really no reason to not simply paraphrase the information.

I propose the following:

Please do not plagiarize off other wikis or other online databases. It is unprofessional and shows a lack of effort on the part of the user. If you are getting your information from another wiki, please paraphrase the passage instead of simply copying it.

 

[Promestein]

A rule on it would definitely be a good idea, I feel.

 

[Azathoth_the_Abyssal_Idiot]

I have no qualms with this, especially considering I already try to put everything on pages I make in my own words.

 

[Amelia_Lonelyheart]

I definitely agree with this rule as well. I'm getting rather tired of seeing (poorly) copy/pasted text from other wiki's.

 

[The_real_cal_howard]

I agree also.

 

[Lina_Shields]

This would apply to all forms of copy-pasted text, and not just the summary, correct? As for what would be affected when this rule is implemented

• Profiles from OBD: Some of the profiles that I have seen were directly copy+pasted from OBD, such as the Mass Effect profiles that needed to be cleaned up.
• Notable Attacks/Techniques: A lot of the attacks and abilities for certain characters have been copied and pasted from a difference source.
• Summary: Why copy+paste the summary when other users can read the summary in the actual Wikia for that franchise? Considering what happened in regards to the Mortal Kombat character summaries, it is best that we write our own summaries for the characters here (using the summary for that character in the respective Wikia as a basis is fine however)

So, it would be a step in the right direction if this rule was implemented.

 

[The_real_cal_howard]

Are the cases for Pokemon where we link Bulbapedia for the notable abilities or techniques okay?

 

[Reppuzan]

@Lina

Yes. A ton of profiles ripped their descriptions from other wikis and it'd be nice if we could slowly go through suspect profiles and change up descriptions that were plagiarized. I don't think this should be a project though, given the anarchy it might cause.

@cal

Those are primarily official descriptions, so I have no problems with copying those. However, it would be nice if we wrote more original and engaging summaries. I can help out with that if you don't want to do it yourself.

 

[The_real_cal_howard]

Plz do. That is a difficult task. Thanks for the offer.

 

[KamiYasha]

I'm okay with this, but copy-pasted a summaries doesn't seem to be that bad.

 

[Reppuzan]

@Kami

True. We've done that for most of the Fate profiles. However, I'd like to keep things original whenever possible.

Thus original summaries are definitely preferred over copied ones.

 

[Antvasima]

I think that we already have a rule for this, but I suppose that we could expand upon it.

 

[Antvasima]

Hmm, it was just a brief mention under Site Rules: "Plagiarising other people's work without consent, in any form, is not acceptable."

I agree that we should probably expand upon this, and add it under Editing Rules instead.

 

[Reppuzan]

@Ant

I'd think so, since new users are more likely to visit Editing Rules than Site Rules, along with the fact that it specifically pertains to creating and editing articles and pages.

 

[Antvasima]

Okay. I will add a version of your suggested wording to the editing rules page.

 

[Antvasima]

I have added it: https://vsbattles.fandom.com/index.php?title=Editing_Rules&diff=863353&oldid=824207

 

[Reppuzan]

Thank you.

 

[Antvasima]

No problem.

 

[Grudgeman1706]

I'm fine with a anti plagiarism rule. lina and reppuzans suggestion are also some very useful points I agree as well.

Quick question, when writing summarizes would it be bad to copy + paste the summaries of another wiki, however you add your own words to it as well so that it's similar but now different from the original? Or no start from scratch.

 

[Antvasima]

You can use the information, but will have to write it in your own words.

 

[Grudgeman1706]

You can use the information, but will have to write it in your own words.

I see, its perfect than and I have no other issue with this idea going forward.