Ask the man in the street for a definition of plagiarism and he’ll probably say something along the lines of “taking another person’s work and pretending it’s your own.” He might even talk about “stealing.” The term brings to mind shady practices like handing in a friend’s essay, or doing a copy and paste job. Crucially, for most of us, plagiarism involves an element of dishonesty. And yet, for university academics plagiarism covers a lot…