Do you publish a public relations site for your PR agency or a site for your customers? Do you engage independent writers?
If you answered “yes” to both of these questions then your site may be at risk for publishing plagiarized or duplicate materials–unless you take the proper precautions.
As much as it pains me to say it as a freelance writer, there are a few independent writers out there who either don’t understand copyright law, or just don’t care. An unsuspecting PR could innocently engage one of these individuals and find themselves with duplicate content. The consequences of publishing someone else’s copy, even accidentally, include a damaged reputation and/or legal damages.
Fortunately, there are ways for a PR to ensure that the copy they receive from independent writers is original. Here are five tips:
- State your policy. Be up front that your site only accepts original content. Include this policy somewhere on your site and direct new writers to the policy.
- Preview materials before publishing. Especially when you are accepting submissions from a new writer, you should check copy before it goes live on your site.
- Make use of a plagiarism checker. There are several excellent tools, such as Article Checker and Copyscape to help you determine whether a submitted article is original.
- Ask to see sources. If a writer is submitting copy about technical material or about something that is not general knowledge for most people, ask to see the sources the writer used.
- Require writers to link to sources. If a writer has relied on the information in another published piece, the writer should credit the source in their copy.
There are also a few red flags that might indicate that plagiarism is occurring. (Note that I said “might.” The presence of these red flags doesn’t mean for sure that the material in question has been copied. It does mean that you should be cautious.)
Here are a few red flags to watch out for:
- The writer produces new material in an unbelievably short period of time
- The writer’s fees are far below those of his or her peers
- The writer’s voice and style constantly changes with each piece that he or she submits
We’ve discussed plagiarism before on Everything PR, but the problem persists in the industry and is worth mentioning again.
What precautions does your PR agency or website take to ensure that all your material is original?
Leave your answers in the comments.
