FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Everybody knows that stealing property or belongings is wrong. There is no question about that. However, there is another type of theft that does not deal with material items. It is plagiarism, and it consists of the stealing of a person's ideas, themes, pictures, or words, and passing them off as one's own. It is the same as if you cheated on a test or term project.
The copying and pasting of words and images from other sites makes up the bulk of plagiarism on the Internet. On the 'Net nowadays, it has become very easy for anyone to steal information from another source and post it somewhere else, while taking full credit.

Plagiarism is a serious crime in a great number of countries. Though it was once considered a compliment to have one's words repeated in another source, in these times it is a punishable offense. It can result in lawsuits, fines, and possibly even jail time. Students who plagiarize can be kicked out of school. The Internet is for the most part the same in its intolerance; intellectual theft is not welcomed on the great majority of websites and will usually result in some sort of punishment. These forums are no different.

Plagiarizing won't be tolerated on this site. Copying and pasting from another source without giving credit will not be taken lightly. Any member who does steal from another source will be banned; there are no second chances. Remember that this does not apply only to aquaria-related information, and extends to any and all plagiarized material. Pictures are also included. The staff of Fishprofiles.com will notice plagiarized material, and will not let it slide. Any person who uses text from another location without identifying the source will be banned; as well as anyone who uses a picture that does not belong to them in a profile submission. Use of an uncredited image on the forums will result in a reminder of the need to document the source or in the removal of the picture; further violations will meet with penalties. How and when (there is no set number of violations that invokes a penalty) punishments are meted out is up to the discretion of the Staff of FishProfiles.com.

It is realized that the site has not always had this policy; information and especially pictures from other sources have been used uncredited with no warnings or bannings taking place. However, it must now be clear that any time another site is used for info or photos, they must be given credit. In this day and age, lawsuits can come from any direction. They can be avoided in this case simply by giving recognition to the folks who posted their work first.

Giving credit to a source is very easy and is not considered plagiarism. A link to the website which originally posted the information works fine; or even a simple notation that 'This information came from [insert webpage here].' All images should include credit notations as well, even if they are only for a one-time posting. It really doesn't take much at all to identify where something came from; so don't be lazy. Please take the three seconds to identify the true author of any re-posted information; it makes things easier on everyone.

If anyone is unsure how to give credit please contact the moderating team and we will gladly guide you.


Thank you.

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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.