I believe I have found a plagiarized quiz. Recently, I took a quiz that has been lifted verbatim from a puzzle book- the exact questions, in the exact order given in the book, and the exact form. If I'm correct, this constitutes plagiarism, against the rules. However, I do not know what action to take about it- should I submit a notice to the author, report the quiz to an editor, or just ignore it?

We do not tolerate plagiarism. Please report it to the editor of the category the quiz is in.

Hi Crystallina, that's a very good question. I think, myself, I would PM the author to find out his/her intention. Maybe it's a child who doesn't understand the concept of Quizzyland, or 'plagiarize'. It could happen, I suppose. Maybe they forgot to attribute. Plagiarism is a heavy accusation though, so it's best to know all your facts. i.e. is the author of the quiz in Quizzyland the author of the original? Let me know how it goes if you choose to confront.

Crystallina: PLEASE send a correction notice about the quiz so we can take it offline immediately. We'd rather take off a quiz which wasn't plagiarized and put it back up the next day than have plagiarized material on the site.

I found at least one millionare style quiz copied straight from that weeks show. Australian millionare that is.

Please, please, please let the editors know. We'll see any correction notices you send, but you can send messages directly to us as well. Plagiarism in any form is not tolerated here, even if it's only a couple of sentences that have been stolen - and we certainly don't want a whole quiz that's been copied!

We do understand, though, that some of our quizmakers are children or don't understand the idea of plagiarism or why it's wrong. We get that a lot, actually. So we don't automatically delete accounts when people plagiarize: we take the quiz offline, and send a polite (but firm) note explaining what plagiarism is, why it's wrong, and what they must do to fix their quiz and get it back online. In very rare cases accounts have been deleted, but this is only when they continue to submit plagiarized quizzes after repeated warnings. So don't worry about getting the quizmaker's account deleted. Just worry about helping to keep FunTrivia as fair, accurate and original as we can possibly be.

CellarDoor said it well, we work very hard to prevent it from happening, but sometimes someone slips through the net. And we deal with it discreetly and swiftly.
Thanks for your help.

That's what I was concerned about- somebody not knowing what plagiarism is or why it is wrong. I have sent a correction note. However, the quiz is a few months old (from 2001), so the author might not be around anymore.

Thanks for responding,
Crystallina

Thanks for the note -- we are very aware of plagiarism and take action whenever a quiz looks dubious. In fact, some of our editors have developed quite keen plagiarism-detection noses!

Our goal is to ensure that every FunTrivia quiz is crafted by visitors, using questions and descriptions in their own words.

Terry

I just found a suspicious one today, no make that flagrant.
Too bad it took me until half way through before I realized though. All that work for nothing!

Be original guys!

Suspected plagiarism should always be referred to an editor, or to an Administrator. Please do not try to handle it privately. There is a potential legal liability issue to be dealt with, and specific guidelines to be followed. Quizzyland editors are trained to do so. Your name won't be cited as the reporting member. The issue can get complicated.