OOPS, I SAID IT AGAIN … SELFPLAGIARISM OR TEXT RE-USE: WHEN OR IS IT ACCEPTABLE?

Abstract

This article looks at the issue of self-plagiarism. Self-plagiarism occurs when an author re-uses work, in another publication, which has already been published. This may be the recycling of an entire article or it may be that the author re-uses text of already published works. Sometimes this is a legal issue because the re-use of already published works may be contrary to copyright law. In other instances the issue may be an ethical one, regarded in the same light as plagiarism. It is not always unlawful or unethical to republish works, but the boundaries of acceptable behaviour are not always easy to establish. This article seeks to establish what constitutes self-plagiarism taking into consideration the concept of plagiarism as well as certain principles of copyright law. The article concludes by suggesting that universities and journals adopt codes of conduct which outline in more detail the boundaries of self-plagiarism.