can you plagiarize your own work?

[RySerr21]

i took a class on psychology of gender and my term paper was on gender differences in heart attack and depression.

i am now in a health psychology course. would it be "plagiarizing" if i wrote a paper on heart disease but took stuff I have already written from the previous paper and just put it in this new one....... they were good ideas, well thought out and id like to use bits and pieces in this new term paper.

you can't "copy" off yourself can you?

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[littlealex]

Yes, and you can be failed for it actually.
You can CITE the essay as a work you previously submitted though.

 

[annndyr]

you can't "copy" off yourself can you?

Sure you can. They're your ideas.


pla·gia·rism /ˈpleɪ

dʒəˌrɪz

əm, -dʒi

əˌrɪz-/[pley-juh-riz-uh

m, -jee-uh-riz-]
–noun 1.the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.

 

[BigRedder]

This is tricky. You certainly cannot submit the entire essay again. I wouldn't lift entire paragraphs either, but you can definitely use phrases of yours, as long as you remember to cite the original source. If you limit the outright copy/pasting to a sentence or less at a time, maybe change a few words, you should be fine. Also, most of the essay should be new work.

 

[Vihsadas]

Sure you can. They're your ideas.


pla·gia·rism /ˈpleɪ

dʒəˌrɪz

əm, -dʒi

əˌrɪz-/[pley-juh-riz-uh

m, -jee-uh-riz-]
–noun 1.the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.

I think it depends on the policy of the school. Here, you can't submit in part or whole, a piece of work that you originally received a grade for.

Is it plagiarism? no, its not (unless it was published). Could you be failed for it at your school? maybe...

EDIT: As long as the new paper is significantly different, I don't think that it'll be a problem at all.

 

[coffeebythelake]

i took a class on psychology of gender and my term paper was on gender differences in heart attack and depression.

i am now in a health psychology course. would it be "plagiarizing" if i wrote a paper on heart disease but took stuff I have already written from the previous paper and just put it in this new one....... they were good ideas, well thought out and id like to use bits and pieces in this new term paper.

you can't "copy" off yourself can you?

In other words you want to get credit twice for the same piece of work. That may not be plagiarism but it is certainly an academic offense.

 

[1956Goldtop]

I wouldn't even try this. Just be on the safe side and write a whole new paper.

 

[LabRat86]

It's not really plagiarism but I suggest you talk to your professor about it because it might affect your grade if they found out through the plagiarism checker that most universities have.

 

[nlax30]

Agreed. Check with the professor and see how they'd like you to handle it. They are your ideas/words, but I'd be willing to bet that a lot of professors would have a problem with someone reusing a paper for credit in another class.

But it is research you've already done and they may not have a problem with it as long as you just don't copy/paste from one to another or quote/cite the original paper.

 

[Dmizrahi]

I'd say it depends on what you got on the first paper?!?!

 

[cofcemt]

In other words you want to get credit twice for the same piece of work. That may not be plagiarism but it is certainly an academic offense.

Why, it is still your work, the fact that classes overlap is not your fault, and thus the most appropriate and least time consuming answer is to use it again. There is no cost of time and plagiarism is not an issue as it is your work, thus you have the permission of the author. This always ticks me off, people assuming that because you use the same answer twice for the same question is plagiarism and thus academic dishonesty...blah blah blah. If you had someone ask you a question and then 2 minutes later you have someone ask the same question, you are not going to reference your previous answer and all other knowledge you have gained from previous people to answer the question and information that you have obtained, NO, you are simply going to give the same answer!

I will have to say, we have the same policy at my academic institution about using the same work twice, but I think it is a load of BS! People are always worried about their political correctness and thus worried about giving everyone credit for their work, but we still celebrate the work of many of the biggest plagiarizers, including Homer, Shakespeare, and many others that did not site their sources.

Sorry bout the rant, but I just think in parts, academia is so stupid some days!

 

[RySerr21]

This is tricky. You certainly cannot submit the entire essay again. I wouldn't lift entire paragraphs either, but you can definitely use phrases of yours, as long as you remember to cite the original source. If you limit the outright copy/pasting to a sentence or less at a time, maybe change a few words, you should be fine. Also, most of the essay should be new work.

well the first paper was focused on gender differences between heart attack AND depression.....so already half of the paper will be totally different.

this paper is " the development of a psecific physical disease/health problem in a specific population using the bioscyhosocial framework"

the papers are clearly different but also can overlap in ways that I would be able to use ideas/paragraphs from the first one.

 

[annndyr]

I'd say it depends on what you got on the first paper?!?!

Haha. Good point.


I've only ever seen student honor codes refer to plagiarism. And in this case, reusing a paper that YOU previously wrote is not plagiarism to any extent. And if you're looking to use 'bits and pieces,' I'd say go for it. The facts and research that you found while drafting the first paper still remain. Whether you rewrite the same info again, or just rearrange ideas from an old paper, I think the end result is the same.

 

[RySerr21]

Why, it is still your work, the fact that classes overlap is not your fault, and thus the most appropriate and least time consuming answer is to use it again. There is no cost of time and plagiarism is not an issue as it is your work, thus you have the permission of the author. This always ticks me off, people assuming that because you use the same answer twice for the same question is plagiarism and thus academic dishonesty...blah blah blah. If you had someone ask you a question and then 2 minutes later you have someone ask the same question, you are not going to reference your previous answer and all other knowledge you have gained from previous people to answer the question and information that you have obtained, NO, you are simply going to give the same answer!

I will have to say, we have the same policy at my academic institution about using the same work twice, but I think it is a load of BS! People are always worried about their political correctness and thus worried about giving everyone credit for their work, but we still celebrate the work of many of the biggest plagiarizers, including Homer, Shakespeare, and many others that did not site their sources.

Sorry bout the rant, but I just think in parts, academia is so stupid some days!

i heard the other day that martin luther king plagiarized his doctoral thesis.... anybody know if this is true?

 

[seraph524]

Don't tell me all you guys wrote completely unique essays for each of your secondaries?

 

[PokerDoc]

I dont think just submitting the same paper again is the best idea, but i dont think people are correct in saying you have to cite your own work.. unless its being published, i think theres nothing wrong with using words you already wrote.

 

[SnoPearl]

I was doing some scientific literature search when I found myself reading identical paragraphs in two different papers. Then I realized that they shared an author who copied and pasted parts of her original paper into sections of her review paper. It's clearly okay to reuse your own work however you like, as long as they're your original ideas.

 

[metalmd06]

Both of Dr. Autl Gawande's books, Complications and Better, are comprised mostly of articles he had previously written for the New Yorker magazine.

 

[seraph524]

I'm really lazy, so I always just re-use my own work if possible.

 

[nevercold]

I served on the student judiciary at my undergraduate institution and that was DEFINITELY an honor code violation. A student is not expected to receive double credit for a single piece of work. A course assignment is a task in which it is expected that novel work will be generated by the student. The OP would be best served by outlining the original paper and taking those elements appropriate for the current paper and writing the language for them anew.

 

[cameljocke]

I served on the student judiciary at my undergraduate institution and that was DEFINITELY an honor code violation. A student is not expected to receive double credit for a single piece of work. A course assignment is a task in which it is expected that novel work will be generated by the student. The OP would be best served by outlining the original paper and taking those elements appropriate for the current paper and writing the language for them anew.

Wtf? How many different ways should 1 person think? How stupid is that claim, that a person needs to rewrite their own work for different submission?

Plagirism is clearly defined as copying someone else's work. Your ideas are just that - YOUR ideas. You word sentences/sentence structure/paragraphs as uniquely as YOU do - why would you have to change that around. There is absolutely nothing novel about that at all.

Do professors get in trouble or violate the "academic honor code" for reusing their OWN tests, or hell, even the other professors tests? Would AMCAS/med schools reject my applications because I answered "what was my favorite extracurricular experience" and "what volunteering experience did you enjoy the most" exactly the same??

Well I did and don't feel the least bit bad about it. To the OP: research your school's "Honor Code" and if only addresses plagirism, strictly, then there's your loophole, but you should be able to reuse/copy your own work whenever the hell you freakin please.

infuriating...

 

[Isoprop]

this is explicitly stated in many academic integrity policies. in essence, you shouldn't submit work twice for credit.

i don't agree with it. but there you have it.

 

[Dienekes]

I was doing some scientific literature search when I found myself reading identical paragraphs in two different papers. Then I realized that they shared an author who copied and pasted parts of her original paper into sections of her review paper. It's clearly okay to reuse your own work however you like, as long as they're your original ideas.

...and the publisher isn't going to sue your *** for violating their copyright. Yes, this can happen. I have several publications to my credit and have had to cite myself in almost every paper at least once. In my case, this happens in the methods section most frequently, because I control a very large database and the methods don't really change that much from publication to publication. One paper I wrote for a class last semester had 11 citations to things I either wrote or had a hand in writing.

As for the idea that if it's just your own words, and no one else has claim to the publication rights meaning it was never published and your school isn't one that puts a claim to the submitted coursework of their students, then you might be able to convince your school's honors board (or whomever handles plagiarism charges) that you didn't technically violate the rules. Granted, what Cameljocke suggested may not be implicitly illegal at your school, you are still likely in violation of the spirit of the law and you have no expectation that the professors or students on the board are going to give you the benefit of the doubt (or even what you might consider a fair shake...you know, basically not hanging you out to dry out of spite because of the huge entitlement chip that rests on the shoulder of most premeds).

Besides, how hard is it really to reword something? If you're smart enough (giving you all the benefit of the doubt....not that I think most of you deserve it, but for the sake of argument....) to have any right to go into medical school, then you should have no problem not parroting something back.

Both of Dr. Autl Gawande's books, Complications and Better, are comprised mostly of articles he had previously written for the New Yorker magazine.

So not only is he a piss poor author, he also lacks originality. Imagine that.... Just so you know, and so you don't mislead others who might not be sharp enough to realize the intricacies of the literature world, one can often rather easily- especially if you are willing to cough up some money- get authorization to reprint verbatim things you have previously had published without having to give citations. Basically you just have to convince (read as: pay) the publisher to get them to give you (often) limited rights to the article(s) in question.

 

[se2131]

Don't tell me all you guys wrote completely unique essays for each of your secondaries?

Personally, if it was more than just bits and pieces, then I'd run it by the teacher first. But if you're just taking small parts of your own work, then what's the big deal?

 

[TheRealMD]

Because there is an unfair advantage in your favor compared to everyone else, you aren't allowed to "reconfigure" an old paper for a new assignment. I'm not sure I'd call it strictly plagariasm, but it's definitely academic dishonesty.

Using old papers is a no no.

 

[Isoprop]

i feel like it's more of an ethical gray area. it's along the lines of an upperclassmen telling you that your prof likes to take questions from footnotes or that he always puts this topic on exams. it's not exactly fair that you got this information and the rest of the class didn't. but eh...

 

[cameljocke]

Because there is an unfair advantage in your favor compared to everyone else, you aren't allowed to "reconfigure" an old paper for a new assignment. I'm not sure I'd call it strictly plagariasm, but it's definitely academic dishonesty.

Using old papers is a no no.

What unfair advantage? You've already put in all the work on this topic. Let's say for the sake of argument, two classes have the same exact prompt, with each paper calling for the same logistics, information, page/word length.

You've already done the work and put in the effort (up to the grade you recieved). Is it unfair that you already know the information on that topic? Plagirisim, or even academic dishonosty, does not have to be a copy verbatim of work. It is using other ideas and thoughts. So even if I reuse my same ideas, thoughts, and arguments from before, am I still "cheating?"

If a reapplicant to med school uses the same PS and secondaries (hypothetically of course - why would they if they didn't get in the first time??) when reapplying, would you say he has an unfair advantage because you have to write your essays, and his are already "done" and he's just resubmitting them?

Did you, TheRealMD, reuse your secondaries? Because I bet everyone who applied did so (unless they applied to like, 7 schools) and probably didn't feel the least bit bad about it (because they believe they are not being dishonest).

 

[parto123]

...and the publisher isn't going to sue your *** for violating their copyright. Yes, this can happen. I have several publications to my credit and have had to cite myself in almost every paper at least once. In my case, this happens in the methods section most frequently, because I control a very large database and the methods don't really change that much from publication to publication. One paper I wrote for a class last semester had 11 citations to things I either wrote or had a hand in writing.

As for the idea that if it's just your own words, and no one else has claim to the publication rights meaning it was never published and your school isn't one that puts a claim to the submitted coursework of their students, then you might be able to convince your school's honors board (or whomever handles plagiarism charges) that you didn't technically violate the rules. Granted, what Cameljocke suggested may not be implicitly illegal at your school, you are still likely in violation of the spirit of the law and you have no expectation that the professors or students on the board are going to give you the benefit of the doubt (or even what you might consider a fair shake...you know, basically not hanging you out to dry out of spite because of the huge entitlement chip that rests on the shoulder of most premeds).

Besides, how hard is it really to reword something? If you're smart enough (giving you all the benefit of the doubt....not that I think most of you deserve it, but for the sake of argument....) to have any right to go into medical school, then you should have no problem not parroting something back.

So not only is he a piss poor author, he also lacks originality. Imagine that.... Just so you know, and so you don't mislead others who might not be sharp enough to realize the intricacies of the literature world, one can often rather easily- especially if you are willing to cough up some money- get authorization to reprint verbatim things you have previously had published without having to give citations. Basically you just have to convince (read as: pay) the publisher to get them to give you (often) limited rights to the article(s) in question.

I think this post confuses plagiarism and copyright in several instances. Copyright is a federal law- protecting against copying of the original work of an author (or artist etc.)- the violation of which results in legal penalties. Plagiarism, on the other hand, is not a law but an academic/ethical rule requiring attribution for the ideas of others. Accordingly, inserting a citation won't cure a copyright violation and rewording someone else's idea wont remedy one's plagiarism.

 

[Textuality]

Don't tell me all you guys wrote completely unique essays for each of your secondaries?

Haha, I certainly didn't...especially not when half the prompts were the same "Tell us what makes you unique/special/different/diverse" spiel. I definitely hack-n-slashed those essays together.

In terms of papers, can't say I've ever had the opportunity to lift entire papers from one class to the other, but I probably would if it was only a paragraph or two, and didn't constitute the bulk of my paper. Even academic authors will reuse some of their own sentences in different papers/books. But if you're really worried about it (or aren't comfortable claiming ignorance if questioned) then yeah, go talk to your professor.

 

[nevercold]

this is explicitly stated in many academic integrity policies. in essence, you shouldn't submit work twice for credit.

All debate aside, this is the important point for the OP. It is considered academic dishonesty by many different institutions.

Someone used the example of having two identical prompts for two different classes. Another person suggested that it should count because you've already done the work. Consider it this way, though:

Every course at a University has a set of four requirements composed of tests and essays (sometimes 4 tests, sometimes 3/1, 2/2 or 1/3, or all 4 essays). Over two courses, if everyone does all 8 requirements, but you were able to do one body of work to cover 2 of them, you would have only actually done 7 requirements. In the case of identical prompts, the appropriate action would be to confront one or both of the professors about this situation and request a different assignment or else to craft different answers for each class.

Because in the OP's question the prompts do have some differences, it seems prudent and reasonable to ask for a recrafting of a few of the ideas. If there is a very well phrased statement, I see no problem in copying that. At the level of the paragraph, however, which is by definition a structural element of the whole essay, one enters into true replication of the original work.

The problem is not copying one's own work. The problem is receiving academic credit twice for a single body of effort. You are a student of each individual class but you are also a student of the institution as a whole.

 

[Concubine]

Wow, the opportunity to use your piece of work twice or more is rare in school. Happened to me once with two of my classes I had at the same time. Each class had some flexibility on what I could write about, so picked two identical topics, wrote one essay for both classes, and killed two birds with one stone. I guess that might be a little different, since it all happened concurrently.

I don't see what the big issue is. If you can do it, do it. I don't see anything dishonest about using your own work multiple times. It's yours, you can do whatever the hell you want with it.

 

[coffeebythelake]

Wow, the opportunity to use your piece of work twice or more is rare in school. Happened to me once with two of my classes I had at the same time. Each class had some flexibility on what I could write about, so picked two identical topics, wrote one essay for both classes, and killed two birds with one stone. I guess that might be a little different, since it all happened concurrently.

I don't see what the big issue is. If you can do it, do it. I don't see anything dishonest about using your own work multiple times. It's yours, you can do whatever the hell you want with it.

In doing so, you are creating an unfair advantage for yourself. I don't understand your reasoning. You can take notes in class, they are yours. That doesn't mean you can take it with you into the exam room.

 

[MossPoh]

Technically yes. As a TA I was trained to mark off significant points if they failed to cite previous work, even if it was their own. I don't think most undergrad classes will really hunt that out...unless you were published before hand. As one of my professors said, "Right now you can't use your own work because our goal is for you to apply new ideas and concepts. So, you have to go through the motions every time. Once you reach my level in academia, plagiarizing yourself is just smart working"

While writing a thesis I was concurrently working on a website that implemented many of the concepts I was talking about. I used the same tables for the site proposal, but I did cite them from my previous work. I did it more because the same professors would view the work and the diagrams took me a couple hours each to do. There is a point where it is hard to tell if you are plagiarizing yourself. Once your knowledge base gets to a certain level, you COULD be regurgitating ideas without knowing it. It is just engrained in your memory. (I've done that several times with regards to project proposals. The guy guy from IBM I was proposing to asked me where I knew that, and I kind of caught myself and noted that it was from previous research and added a citation afterwards)

Also, the opportunity to use work twice in school might be rare in certain science areas as an undergrad, but not in college. Enter usability engineering or literature stuff like I was involved and you'll be tempted fairly often. I once wrote a 25 page analysis of a Goethe poem (roughly 24 pages longer than the damn poem). The next semester I was in a class and we had to write another poetry analysis. You have any idea how tempting it was to just hand over the perfectly grammatically correct analysis that got a "1,5" (that's essentially an A-) in germany against german speaking students? It was pretty tough.

 

[BigRedder]

Wow, the opportunity to use your piece of work twice or more is rare in school. Happened to me once with two of my classes I had at the same time. Each class had some flexibility on what I could write about, so picked two identical topics, wrote one essay for both classes, and killed two birds with one stone. I guess that might be a little different, since it all happened concurrently.

I don't see what the big issue is. If you can do it, do it. I don't see anything dishonest about using your own work multiple times. It's yours, you can do whatever the hell you want with it.

Here is a quote from my school's Code of Academic Integrity:

"Work submitted by a student and used by a faculty member in the determination of a grade in a course may not be submitted by that student in a second course, unless such submission is approved in advance by the faculty member in the second course. If a student is submitting all or part of the same work simultaneously for the determination of a grade in two or more different courses, all faculty members in the courses involved must approve such submissions."

 

[Isoprop]

just as a side note, it's not unusual to see researchers cite themselves in an article.

"earlier investigation found similar results... blah blah blah (isoprop 2001)."


it's kinda weird because they're referring to themselves in the third person.

 

[Concubine]

Here is a quote from my school's Code of Academic Integrity:

"Work submitted by a student and used by a faculty member in the determination of a grade in a course may not be submitted by that student in a second course, unless such submission is approved in advance by the faculty member in the second course. If a student is submitting all or part of the same work simultaneously for the determination of a grade in two or more different courses, all faculty members in the courses involved must approve such submissions."

My school defined it as:

"Submitting work previously presented in another course: Knowingly
making such submission in violation of stated course requirements."

What does that even mean? "Knowingly making such submission in violation of stated course requirements"? It also says nothing about concurrent submission.

 

[BigRedder]

just as a side note, it's not unusual to see researchers cite themselves in an article.

"earlier investigation found similar results... blah blah blah (isoprop 2001)."


it's kinda weird because they're referring to themselves in the third person.

In academia, people are often so specialized that the best source for previous work on the subject is often themselves. That and academics are often judged by how many times their work has been cited, so it can't hurt to pad it a bit...

 

[Concubine]

I think dishonest is the wrong word for using your own work. I'll digress that you don't get the "learning experience" from writing two essays though.

 

[Isoprop]

it is dishonest if they tell you to not do it. they can tell you that it is against their policies to sit down while writing your paper. it's ludicrous, but if you submit the work, you're implying "i followed the rules while writing this paper." doing otherwise is dishonest.

 

[skyeblue0610]

I had a paper topic that was similar to an essay I wrote a year ago. I printed it out and pointed to the section I thought was really good and asked if I could put it in. My professor liked it and said I could include it all, and that she was eager to see where I was going with my paper from that part I wanted to use

Just ask them first. You never know what they'll say

 

[Dienekes]

In doing so, you are creating an unfair advantage for yourself. I don't understand your reasoning. You can take notes in class, they are yours. That doesn't mean you can take it with you into the exam room.

Rule #1: There is no such thing as an unfair advantage. Just one that might get you in deep **** if you get caught using it.

Rule #2: Don't get caught.

 

[Quix]

Yes, it constitutes plagiarism, and no, I don't think that it makes much sense.

That being said, just get permission from the professor in the second class, and you should be fine. For instance, I don't want my students to reinvent the wheel, especially if work they have already completed is germane to my assignments, but I do prefer to know if I'm getting recycled material. Last semester, for instance, I let a student taking my English Comp class submit a paper she wrote for her sociology class.

 

[Vihsadas]

Rule #1: There is no such thing as an unfair advantage. Just one that might get you in deep **** if you get caught using it.

Rule #2: Don't get caught.

Your title seems to suit your well (Mr. Bad Example)

 

[Dienekes]

Your title seems to suit your well (Mr. Bad Example)

Thank you. By the way, you can't repeat those rules without proper citation.

 

[coffeebythelake]

Rule #1: There is no such thing as an unfair advantage. Just one that might get you in deep **** if you get caught using it.

Rule #2: Don't get caught.

I guess thats the same kind of backwards reasoning that people have when they commit crimes.

 

[Dienekes]

I guess thats the same kind of backwards reasoning that people have when they commit crimes.

True. It's also commonly used in numerous other situations too.

 

[TheRealMD]

What unfair advantage? You've already put in all the work on this topic. Let's say for the sake of argument, two classes have the same exact prompt, with each paper calling for the same logistics, information, page/word length.

You've already done the work and put in the effort (up to the grade you recieved). Is it unfair that you already know the information on that topic? Plagirisim, or even academic dishonosty, does not have to be a copy verbatim of work. It is using other ideas and thoughts. So even if I reuse my same ideas, thoughts, and arguments from before, am I still "cheating?"

If a reapplicant to med school uses the same PS and secondaries (hypothetically of course - why would they if they didn't get in the first time??) when reapplying, would you say he has an unfair advantage because you have to write your essays, and his are already "done" and he's just resubmitting them?

Did you, TheRealMD, reuse your secondaries? Because I bet everyone who applied did so (unless they applied to like, 7 schools) and probably didn't feel the least bit bad about it (because they believe they are not being dishonest).

I just wrote a short paper for my genetics lab dealing with an issue so we are aware of what constitutes as plagiarism. At least at my school (University of Texas at Austin), multiple submissions are NOT allowed unless you talk to the professor first.

Thought I should probably separate plagiarism from scholastic dishonesty. Plagiarism is NEVER allowed, not matter where you are. Scholastic dishonesty are additional rules based off of what isn't allowed from plagiarism. Multiple submissions falls under that:

http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/scholdis_whatis.php

Here's a snippet:

"Unauthorized multiple submissions are inherently deceptive. After all, an instructor reasonably assumes that any completed assignments being submitted for credit were actually prepared for that course. Mindful of that assumption, students who "recycle" their own papers from one course to another make an effort to convey that impression. For instance, a student may revise the original title page or imply through some other means that he or she wrote the paper for that particular course, sometimes to the extent of discussing a "proposed" paper topic with the instructor or presenting a "draft" of the paper before submitting the "recycled" work for credit.

The issue of plagiarism is also relevant. If, for example, you previously prepared a paper for one course and then submit it for credit in another course without citing the initial work, you are committing plagiarism—essentially "self-plagiarism"—the term used by some institutions. Recall the broad scope of plagiarism: all types of materials can be plagiarized, including unpublished works, even papers you previously wrote."

So, yeah, If you talk to your professor and they give the a, ok! then great. Otherwise, your school may give you the boot.

Reusing secondaries is allowed because it's not for a grade. That's why they don't really care.

 

[annndyr]

That might be the dumbest thing I have ever heard... 'self-plagiarism.' To plagiarize is to use the thoughts and ideas of others as though they were your own. Not, "I wrote this paper once, so I will plagiarize myself by reusing the same text."

As John Stossel would say, gimmie a break.

 

[shadowclaws]

I heard this one computer science guy used a super computer to type out every possible combination of the english language. He used a electronic english dictionary with over 1million words and made the computer calculate every possible combination of words. The number of combination of words was a number with 5.5 million digits. Or 1000000! ~ 8.3 E 5565708.

So technically everyone else is plagiarizing him.

 

[Bre]

I'm kind of amazed by the negative responses to the idea of using the same paper for two different classes. I agree that if your institution explicitly states in its honor code (or whatever it uses) that that kind of behavior is not allowed then you should not do it, but if there is no rule against it I hardly see it as an unethical or unfair thing to do.