Incremental plagiarism is the act of repeatedly including small pieces of copied phrases, sentences, or ideas without giving credit to the original sources.
Although this form of plagiarism is often a result of carelessness rather than a deliberate intent to deceive, it can still lead to plagiarism claims, especially if borrowed segments add up and make the work look too similar to the source material.
Principais conclusões
- Incremental plagiarism is the pattern of accumulating small, uncredited pieces of copied work across one piece. When these bits add up, they can make the work look too similar to the source material.
- Incremental plagiarism often arises more from disorganized research and citation failures.
- Our annotated example shows how borrowing phrasing, metaphors, and ideas can cross fair use into plagiarism even when applied to new contexts.
- Strategies for preventing incremental plagiarism include tracking sources during the research process, quoting verbatim sentences, and running works through plagiarism checkers.
Why It’s Easy to Commit by Accident
As we mentioned, incremental plagiarism is often a result of carelessness, poor note-taking, or disorganized research habits.
For example, you might:
- Mistake direct quotes for original notes
- Forget to include citations for a statement you had paraphrased
- Drift too close to the source material’s wording during the editing process
Properly tracking sources, keeping research organized, and comparing your work against source material are key to avoiding accidental plagiarism.
Incremental vs. Other Types of Plagiarism
Incremental plagiarism has its own distinct definition to describe the common phenomenon of plagiarism unintentionally arising from the repeated use of small, uncited portions of source material. However, it can sometimes overlap with other forms of plagiarism.
Below, we explain how incremental plagiarism compares with other forms of plagiarism and when the categories might intersect.
Incremental Plagiarism vs. Global Plagiarism
Global plagiarism is the most severe form of plagiarism. It involves passing off a complete work consisting entirely of copied material as your own. In contrast, incremental plagiarism is about failing to give credit for small portions of copied material in a work that is otherwise original.
Nunca mais se preocupe com a detecção de seus textos pela IA. Undetectable AI Pode lhe ajudar:
- Faça sua escrita assistida por IA aparecer semelhante ao humano.
- Bypass todas as principais ferramentas de detecção de IA com apenas um clique.
- Uso IA com segurança e com confiança na escola e no trabalho.
Incremental Plagiarism vs. Direct “Verbatim” Plagiarism
Direct or verbatim plagiarism is the form of plagiarism that duplicates portions of existing material without crediting the original source.
Direct plagiarism can become incremental plagiarism if the author copies multiple small passages verbatim without attribution.
Incremental Plagiarism vs. Patchwriting or Mosaic Plagiarism
Patchwriting or mosaic plagiarism is the form of plagiarism that combines multiple copied passages together without proper citation. The offense refers specifically to the act of copying from multiple sources to build a new work.
Meanwhile, the offense incremental plagiarism focuses on is the pattern of accumulating multiple uncredited phrases, sentences, or ideas in one work.
Não se trata tanto de onde the copied material comes from, and more about the failure to provide proper citations.
If a writer repeatedly incorporates uncredited material from múltiplo sources throughout a text, the work counts as both incremental plagiarism and patchwriting.
Real Cases of Incremental Plagiarism
Incremental plagiarism often happens in political, academic, and literary settings. Discovery can lead to severe consequences, such as lawsuits, retracted publications, and reputational damage.
Below, we discuss a few examples of incremental plagiarism and their aftermath.
Vicente Sotto III
In 2012, Filipino Senator Vicente Sotto III became the subject of controversy when news agencies found that a speech he had delivered in a stand against the then-pending Reproductive Health bill copied passages from Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s 1966 Day of Affirmation speech without credit.
Though Sotto translated these passages and applied them to a new context, they retained their unique wording, metaphors, and emotive framing.
A report by Philippine news network GMA placed the speeches side by side to highlight the similarities.
| Robert F. Kennedy’s Day of Affirmation Speech | Vicente Sotto III’s speech against the Reproductive Health bill |
| Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events, and in the total of all these acts will be written the history of this generation. Thousands of Peace Corps volunteers are making a difference in the isolated villages and the city slums of dozens of countries. Thousands of unknown men and women in Europe resisted the occupation of the Nazis and many died, but all added to the ultimate strength and freedom of their countries. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. | Iilan ang magiging dakila sa pagbali ng kasaysayan, subalit bawat isa sa atin ay maaaring kumilos, gaano man kaliit, para ibahin ang takbo ng mga pangyayari. (Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events.) Ang mga hindi-mabilang na iba’t ibang galaw ng katapangan at paninindigan ang humuhubog sa kasaysayan ng sangkatauhan. (It is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped.) Tuwing naninindigan tayo para sa isang paniniwala, tuwing kumikilos tayo para mapabuti ang buhay ng iba, tuwing nilalabanan natin ang kawalan ng katarungan, nakalilikha tayo ng maliliit na galaw. Kapag nagkasama-sama ang mumunting galaw na mga ito, bubuo ito ng isang malakas na puwersang kayang magpabagsak maging ng pinakamatatag na dingding ng opresyon. (Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.) |
The scandal brought significant damage to Sotto’s reputation. Upon discovering the violation, Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and president of the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center (then known as the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights), released a statement condemning Sotto, not just for his theft, but also for using the borrowed passages to support his stance against reproductive rights.
Dr. David Agus
In 2023, American scientist David Agus intended to release The Book of Animal Secrets: Nature’s Lessons for a Long and Happy Life, a self-help book that uses facts about animal biology to teach readers how to improve health and longevity.
His promotional strategies successfully earned a number one spot on Amazon’s list of top-selling books about animals, only for publisher Simon & Schuster to halt publication after an L.A. Times investigation to reveal several instances of plagiarism across the work.
According to the LA Times, at least 95 passages looked suspiciously similar to sources like Wikipedia, National Geographic, The New York Times, scientific journals, and university websites. Some even kept phrasing verbatim. Agus failed to provide attribution for any of the borrowed material.
In response, Simon & Schuster mandated that Agus postpone publication until he re-submitted the work with proper revisions, credits, and citations. They also cancelled scheduled distributions and requested their retail and distribution partners to return copies that were already in circulation.
Robin Thicke e Pharrell Williams
Incremental plagiarism can occur not just in writing but also in music and art. When Robin Thicke released the song Blurred Lines in 2013, many listeners pointed out suspicious similarities to the late Marvin Gaye’s Got to Give It Up, includinggroove, rhythmic feel, and instrumentation choices.
As a result, Gaye’s estate threatened legal action against Thicke and the song’s composer Pharrell Williams.
Thicke and Williams denied the accusations and filed a pre-emptive lawsuit against the Gaye estate, which asked a California district court to rule that Blurred Lines had not infringed Gaye’s copyright. They argued that while the song took heavy inspiration from Gaye, its conception was completely original.
However, the California federal jury disagreed with Thicke and Williams’s claims, ultimately declaring that Blurred Lines committed copyright infringement. The jury then awarded Gaye’s estate an estimated $7.4 million in damages.
How to Avoid Incremental Plagiarism
Avoiding incremental plagiarism is a matter of correcting poor research and note-taking habits. Track sources, cite them properly, and use tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to ensure compliance.
Track Sources
Incremental plagiarism often arises out of careless mistakes, like forgetting the original source of information or quotes before incorporating them into your paper.
If you keep track of the sentences or phrases you’ve quoted or paraphrased, you can avoid making these mistakes.
Provide Citations for Quotes and Ideas
Tracking sources is just the first step. To prevent incremental plagiarism, it is necessary to give borrowed material proper citations.
This means quoting and citing sources for sentences that you have retained verbatim, and citing the sources of ideas for portions that you have paraphrased.
Styles like APA, MLA, and the Chicago Manual Style were designed to make it easier for readers to find the sources you used and verify your claims.
Since remembering the differences between these styles can be challenging, it helps to use citation generators to automatically format citations and ensure compliance.
Separate Drafts and Research Notes
When you combine drafts and research notes together in one place, it becomes easy to lose track of what’s been copied and what’s your own work.
To avoid confusion, it’s a good idea to keep drafts and notes separate and clearly mark anything that you have copied from another source. This strategy will decrease your likelihood of accidentally taking credit for copied material.
Use A Plagiarism Checker
Plagiarism checkers are great starting points for preventing incremental plagiarism. These tools can identify phrases, sentences, or even structures in your work that are too similar to existing work.
They show you exactly what you need to work on to prevent any accidental plagiarism claims.
Perguntas frequentes
Is incremental plagiarism intentional?
Incremental plagiarism can be intentional, but is more often not. It typically comes from sloppy note-taking, over-reliance on sources, or improper citations rather than a deliberate attempt to deceive readers or take credit for another person’s work.
How is incremental plagiarism different from patchwriting?
Though incremental plagiarism and patchwriting overlap heavily, they focus on different manners of plagiarism. Patchwriting refers to the act of weaving fragments of copied material together from disparate sources.
Meanwhile, incremental plagiarism refers to the broader pattern of accumulating small, uncredited phrases, sentences, or ideas in one piece.
Can a plagiarism checker catch incremental plagiarism?
Plagiarism checkers look for textual similarities between submitted content and existing sources. They’re relatively effective at catching plagiarism when the wording is very similar, but are less reliable when the author has heavily reworded the copied material.
However, this doesn’t mean that incremental plagiarism is easier to get away with. Many human reviewers use plagiarism checkers as a starting point and supplement machine evaluations with their own manual review.
Shifts in writing style, similarities to existing works, and inconsistent citation practices often tip them off to potential plagiarism.
How do I avoid incremental plagiarism?
To avoid incremental plagiarism, it’s best to keep careful track of where you sourced your information, quotes, and ideas, and then provide proper citations when incorporating these into your work. This way, you can avoid being accused of taking credit for work that is not your own.
You can use a plagiarism checker to see if the structure, phrasing, or execution of your work is too similar to existing material.
The checker’s evaluation can help you more easily identify which parts of your piece need better attributions and whether you need to build on borrowed ideas further.
Considerações finais
Incremental plagiarism is when small instances of uncited borrowing add up. It often happens accidentally as a result of carelessness, poor note-taking, or disorganized research.
To avoid incremental plagiarism, track your sources, provide proper citations, and run your work through an effective plagiarism checker before submission.
If you’re in need of plagiarism checker that can tell you whether your work will pass common detectors like QuillBot, Copyleaks, and Grammarly, look no further than Undetectable AI.
Nosso Verificador de plágio de IA can flag copied or AI-generated content at 95% accuracy. Try it out for free to keep your work original, authentic, and compliant with your institution’s standards.