If you are wondering what information you can replicate in Physiopedia or are not sure what constitutes copyrighted materials these new guidelines from The Canadian Association of University Teachers will answer your questions. The new comprehensive guide to the use of copyrighted materials in schools assess the current state of fair dealing in Canada and provide assistance for those with questions on their copyright rights. It is a clear and focused guide that describes what you can do, rather than what you can’t.
- If there is any doubt whatsoever as to whether a text is copyright, always assume that it is.
- Never paste text from a copyright source directly into an article, even temporarily.
- Do not closely paraphrase a copyright text. Even if the source is credited, close paraphrasing is both copyright infringement (illegal) and plagiarism (unethical).
- Significant chunks of copyright material must not appear anywhere on Physiopedia. Any small extracts used for temporary drafting purposes should be clearly marked with quotation marks and have the source attributed.
One of the best ways to avoid copyright violations (and to write a better article) is to use several sources rather than relying on a single reference work or web site. It also helps to draft your article gradually rather than rushing to get it into Physiopedia. This approach will result in more interesting and coherent content. It also allows you the time to review your work carefully for potential copyright violations.
It might also help to avoid copyright violations if you use this approach to your writing:
- Read the article the you want to take information from and put into Physiopedia. Digest it. Internalize it. Make sure you understand the outline of the subject well enough to explain it verbally to another person without looking back at the article.
- Then make an outline of the facts only, no adjectives; no phrases; just the facts.
- Now attempt a draft of the topic, just using your outline, preferably after not having looked at the article for a little while.
- This will force you to write it in your own words — it’s just too easy to be tempted to copy the perfect phrases written in the articles that you are using.
For more specific information on copyrighted materials in relation to Physiopedia, take a look at our Copyrights document.
References
Wikipedia:WikiProject Composers/Copyright guidelines. Retrieved May 11th 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Composers/Copyright_guidelines.