plagiarism and polychromatic
It's come to our attention that we need to clarify the meaning and consequences of plagiarism in polychromatic.
Plagiarism, as we define it, is directly or completely copying text of posts, applications, or writing samples and claiming them as one's own. We will also examine situations in which plagiarism is suspected based on rewording bodies of text (as in, the section is exactly same, but in a different tense, or the structure of the sentences has been inverted) in either an application or a character entry. We will investigate and make a decision on a case-by-case basis. If we determine that plagiarism has occurred, there are consequences, all which depend on the amount of plagiarism and how often it has occurred.
Some possible consequences regarding applications are
- request to rewrite a section found to be plagiarized
- removal of the entire application and therefore loss of an application cycle turn
- suspended from applying for a period of time for multiple offenses
- banned from applying to polychromatic for excessive offenses
Consequences for players whose characters have already been accepted
- removal of the character (player must reapp) if application is found to be plagiarized after acceptance
- warning if a single entry has been found to be plagiarized
- removal of the character (player must reapp) after a second warning
- suspension for the player from all gameplay for multiple offenses
- banned from polychromatic for excessive offenses
Please understand that this announcement is not meant to frighten the community into constantly checking the originality of their gameplay. We are aware that when people play the same character, many things can remain similar, including, for example, the need for a permissions post for characters with special powers that may unknowingly affect surrounding characters, or a popular fandom descriptor (such as "tsundere") for a character type. Similar ideas can occur to more than one player. Players may also be unaware of their actions or may play a character as an homage to another interpretation, whether that interpretation comes from another player, fanfiction, or published works that are considered questionably a part or not a part of canon by parent source material (an example would be the Star Wars novels). Here at polychromatic we do not consider similar interpretations as a form of plagiarism. Considering the nature of a multifandom game, it is not our place to judge the origin of a player's interpretation beyond the boundaries of what is IC or OOC. We understand that this may upset some players but this is the position we the moderators at polychromatic take on the issue. Other areas we will not consider as forms of plagiarism are plots, subplots, the dynamics of CR, and icon choices. Members of the polychromatic community are not forced to play with others who exercise practices one may not agree with (such as icon crediting or lack thereof). However we do encourage that players try to talk amongst each other about these kinds of issues if one feels extremely bothered by a practice that does not necessarily break the rules. This is why we ask that players have crit posts and/or participate in the seasonal HMD.
In the event that a plagiarism complaint is filed against a member of the community we will take all necessary steps to investigate the matter, including comparing applications, comparing entries, and any other material supplied by the filer, and speaking to the accused personally if deemed necessary. Gameplay of the accused will not be suspended during a pending investigation as we believe in the principle of innocent until proven guilty. We will not punish a player over suspicion of plagiarism until an investigation is completed and a decision on the appropriate consequence is reached.
If you feel you are being plagiarized we absolutely encourage you to write a complaint in an email or a screened comment to the Problems Thread. Please include all instances of what you believe has been plagiarized, whether it's within an application or a character entry. Although we will investigate complaints sent from non-members of the community, all complaints must be made from the player who feels he or she is being plagiarized. We will not accept third party submissions.
In an environment that focuses on creativity we understand that plagiarism is a sensitive issue. We hope this clarifies our stance on the matter. If there are any questions please don't hesitate to ask!
Plagiarism, as we define it, is directly or completely copying text of posts, applications, or writing samples and claiming them as one's own. We will also examine situations in which plagiarism is suspected based on rewording bodies of text (as in, the section is exactly same, but in a different tense, or the structure of the sentences has been inverted) in either an application or a character entry. We will investigate and make a decision on a case-by-case basis. If we determine that plagiarism has occurred, there are consequences, all which depend on the amount of plagiarism and how often it has occurred.
Some possible consequences regarding applications are
- request to rewrite a section found to be plagiarized
- removal of the entire application and therefore loss of an application cycle turn
- suspended from applying for a period of time for multiple offenses
- banned from applying to polychromatic for excessive offenses
Consequences for players whose characters have already been accepted
- removal of the character (player must reapp) if application is found to be plagiarized after acceptance
- warning if a single entry has been found to be plagiarized
- removal of the character (player must reapp) after a second warning
- suspension for the player from all gameplay for multiple offenses
- banned from polychromatic for excessive offenses
Please understand that this announcement is not meant to frighten the community into constantly checking the originality of their gameplay. We are aware that when people play the same character, many things can remain similar, including, for example, the need for a permissions post for characters with special powers that may unknowingly affect surrounding characters, or a popular fandom descriptor (such as "tsundere") for a character type. Similar ideas can occur to more than one player. Players may also be unaware of their actions or may play a character as an homage to another interpretation, whether that interpretation comes from another player, fanfiction, or published works that are considered questionably a part or not a part of canon by parent source material (an example would be the Star Wars novels). Here at polychromatic we do not consider similar interpretations as a form of plagiarism. Considering the nature of a multifandom game, it is not our place to judge the origin of a player's interpretation beyond the boundaries of what is IC or OOC. We understand that this may upset some players but this is the position we the moderators at polychromatic take on the issue. Other areas we will not consider as forms of plagiarism are plots, subplots, the dynamics of CR, and icon choices. Members of the polychromatic community are not forced to play with others who exercise practices one may not agree with (such as icon crediting or lack thereof). However we do encourage that players try to talk amongst each other about these kinds of issues if one feels extremely bothered by a practice that does not necessarily break the rules. This is why we ask that players have crit posts and/or participate in the seasonal HMD.
In the event that a plagiarism complaint is filed against a member of the community we will take all necessary steps to investigate the matter, including comparing applications, comparing entries, and any other material supplied by the filer, and speaking to the accused personally if deemed necessary. Gameplay of the accused will not be suspended during a pending investigation as we believe in the principle of innocent until proven guilty. We will not punish a player over suspicion of plagiarism until an investigation is completed and a decision on the appropriate consequence is reached.
If you feel you are being plagiarized we absolutely encourage you to write a complaint in an email or a screened comment to the Problems Thread. Please include all instances of what you believe has been plagiarized, whether it's within an application or a character entry. Although we will investigate complaints sent from non-members of the community, all complaints must be made from the player who feels he or she is being plagiarized. We will not accept third party submissions.
In an environment that focuses on creativity we understand that plagiarism is a sensitive issue. We hope this clarifies our stance on the matter. If there are any questions please don't hesitate to ask!