[Sca-cooks] When is it Plagiarism and When is it a Redaction?

[Euriol of Lothian]

I went to Purdue University to look at how they saw plagiarism in their academic environment. It would seem that this would fall as a misuse of source, if they gave no citation... but the differences between the two, as you say, are minor and would seem to be covered under the "ideas" part under their definition of plagiarism.

I suppose the real challenge in determining between the two may be the original source for the recipe being redacted. Some recipes have a lot more leeway than others in what the final redaction can be than others. When a recipe doesn't have much leeway, how much room is there for the redaction?

Yet, underlying this... there is still room for interpretation of the exact amounts: 8 cups to 8 cups, instead of 8 cups to a pound.

So my final thought is I would definitely say it is a misuse of source and plagiarism of an "idea", taking the minor deviations into consideration.

 Euriol



----- Original Message ----
From: Elise Fleming <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
To: sca-cooks <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>; "mk-cooks at midrealm.org" <mk-cooks at midrealm.org>
Sent: Fri, February 5, 2010 7:23:09 AM
Subject: [Sca-cooks] When is it Plagiarism and When is it a Redaction?

Greetings!  I think I know the answer, but I thought I would see what you all had to say.  I have been reading someone's work where the person says that the item is their "redaction" from someone else's recipe.  The differences between the original and the "redaction" are (to me) exceedingly minor.  What would you say?

Here is the modern version of a recipe:

8 cups of any combination of spinach, cabbage, beet greens, onion,
   leeks, parsley, etc., chopped
1 stick (1/4 lb.) of butter
salt to taste
1 cup diced bread or unseasoned croutons

Cover greens with water; add butter and bring to a boil; add salt. Reduce heat & cook until vegetables are tender; drain. Place bread or croutons in serving bowl and cover with cooked greens.

Here is what someone has called their redaction of the recipe, above:

8 cups of any combination of spinach, cabbage, beet greens, onions,
   leeks, parsley, etc., chopped
4 Tablespoons olive oil (you can use 1 stick (1/4 lb.) unsalted butter
Salt to taste (use sea salt)

Cover greens with water; add butter or oil and bring to a boil; add salt.  Reduce heat and cook until vegetables are tender; drain. (Author’s redaction)

Would the second person be said have plagiarized the first recipe?  Or are the few changes enough to make the recipe "their own"?

Alys K.
-- Elise Fleming
alysk at ix.netcom.com
http://home.netcom.com/~alysk/
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