FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Hi - I'm a newby to the forum. My first read was the lengthy (overly so ?) post from Lindy Admin in 2005.
It occurred to me that if this forum - and I've never seen the subject raised on any of the many other forums I subscribe to (fishies et al)- is plagued by plagiarism - and the need to denounce it at length - then maybe I should find another forum ?
However, moderation prevailed and I've decided to read on further.
But I'm still curious - is plagiarism such a big problem in this fishy forum world ? I thought only Dan Brown and his Da Vinci code suffered from that ! Malcolm L

It hasn't popped up in a while, so the announcement seems to have achieved the desired end. This site is not "plagued by plagiarism" in any respect- the sticky serves as a helpful preventative. It's very possible that some people are unaware of what plagiarism is or that it is harmful, and thus may account for a lot of the offenses on the Web.

And hey- welcome to the forums.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I am happy to hear that you read the (lengthy) announcement. It means that others have probably read it too.

Welcome to the site.

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

It isn't a massive problem, but it was becoming an issue for a while. There was some posting of articles without any notification that they were not written by the poster, and there was a lot of photo-snaffling and on the odd occasion entire fish profiles were being submitted by people who had just copied and pasted them from another site.

Writing on the internet doesn't void the author's copyright, its just harder to enforce. It isn't a really big problem here, but it is definitely a problem on aquaria sites as a whole. Really long articles on fish health are the most popular IME, followed by fish profiles. Photos are always popular, and most people who have figured this out now plaster their name and website all over their images before posting them. I'm not sure if this is working or not. On one hand it makes the point that you own the image, but also makes people feel they can use it without asking.

Its not a majorly big deal, doesn't really affect most people on here.

And I'm impressed that you read it too!

Welcome to FP

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Malcolm,

Welcome to FP , and I am glad that you decided to stay on, at least until you finished reading that post by Lindy and until you added an entry here.

I think you should try to see this post as one of the many positive things you will find at FP. There is nothing wrong with linking to other entities, as long as one doesn't get the impression that it would be your property. Except - of course - if it is your property .

How would you like it if one day you go to a site and there is an article that is a copy of what you once wrote but the writer claimed it as his/her thoughts? I am sure you wouldn't be pleased.

Anyway, I always appreciate a person who doesn't shy away from reading long posts. Maybe next you would like to read my 125G log in the Planted Tank Forum, it is only a little longer than Lindy's post ,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club