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sjbercot
Community Member

Offer plagiarism checking along with editing and proofreading services?

Just curious about the Up-hive. What do you think about it? Do you offer it? Why or why not? What are your favorite checkers?


8 REPLIES 8
researchediting
Community Member

My editing clients are typically doing original research, and/or bound by and keenly aware of the academic and professional strictures against plagiarism, so it never comes up. It's one of several reasons I don't typically bother with undergraduate work.

I hear that. I'm thinking more along the lines of clients who hire writers/ghostwriters, or first-time writers who don't have an academic background and/or aren't clear on what plaigarism consists of. I'd like to be able to help those clients out, and I'm wondering if offering a check as part of the editing package would be appropriate.


Sarah B wrote:

I hear that. I'm thinking more along the lines of clients who hire writers/ghostwriters, or first-time writers who don't have an academic background and/or aren't clear on what plaigarism consists of. I'd like to be able to help those clients out, and I'm wondering if offering a check as part of the editing package would be appropriate.


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I don't use a specific checker, but I have, on occasion, googled text that I have found suspect, and have usually discovered that a writer has not credited someone else's work (at best!). Once  I called a writer out and they had to rewrite several pages of text. There are times though, particularly in translation, when a plagiarism checker might find fault with a text with subjects such as finance (or law perhaps), for example, where set terms have to be used and there is no way one can be creative with them!

Yeah, when I come across it, I flag it and offer to properly reference or suggest rewriting, etc. But like you said, that can sometimes end up being a lot of text... I'm wondering if it would be more efficient and helpful to clients to just get it out of the way and in the open from the beginning, and before I've edited half the document. 🙂

I'd lose clients if I even vaguely hinted at it. Even the shorter things I edit tend to be of the 'I've been working on this since I was knee-high to a grasshopper' or 'I put my heart and soul into this and it has to be perfect' nature. To suggest they're lying and have stolen their work would  be the end of the conversation.



Kim F wrote:

I'd lose clients if I even vaguely hinted at it. Even the shorter things I edit tend to be of the 'I've been working on this since I was knee-high to a grasshopper' or 'I put my heart and soul into this and it has to be perfect' nature. To suggest they're lying and have stolen their work would  be the end of the conversation.

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I don't often come across this, but when I do,  it usually occurs when I edit texts that are not written by native English speakers.  In these texts, I have sometimes come across near perfect English passages (not in the client's style), so I check them. I am very diplomatic in my handling of this. But generally, I tell the client that the last thing they want is to be called out on it in public - Amazon - for example! 


 


Nichola L wrote:


I don't often come across this, but when I do,  it usually occurs when I edit texts that are not written by native English speakers.  In these texts, I have sometimes come across near perfect English passages (not in the client's style), so I check them. I am very diplomatic in my handling of this. But generally, I tell the client that the last thing they want is to be called out on it in public - Amazon - for example! 


I think reacting to it is different to proactively suggesting that there might be an issue. 

 

 

You make a great point Kim.  A lot of my clients are at a similar point, and the last thing I'd want them to think is that I was accusing them of anything. My approach is usually to assume it's inadvertent or a simple mistake rather than intentional, so I was thinking more in terms of protecting the client, not calling them out. You know, saving them what should probably be an essential step for anyone looking to publish these days. But yeah, I wouldn't want to put clients off by suggesting it. Hm.