Plagiarism and self-plagiarism – facts and myths

Abstract

The problem of plagiarism and self-plagiarism is becoming more and more important in the context of the discussion on pathologies in science. Although in many cases these are reprehensible phenomena, the assessment of situations associated with these pejorative terms is not always justified. While using someone else’s work (including, in particular, scientific publications) without the affiliation of authorship is an infringement of copyright moral rights, from a legal point of view, self-plagiarism is a neutral practice. The duplication of one’s work or a significant part of it without a proper and clear reference to an earlier publication may be, however, considered an infringement of the principles of reliability and ethics in science. It may also have negative consequences for procedures for obtaining scientific degrees and titles. It also exposes the author of the self-plagiarism to a loss of scientific credibility and reputation.