how do you know whether plagiarism is acceptable for an assignment? Forum

[unclej]

how do you know whether plagiarism is acceptable for an assignment?
example: assignment is to draft a contract.
Does your contract have to pass plagiarism checkers?
if you're going to say "ask your teacher" my teacher is one of those people who answer a question with a question and make you even more confused. I am not going to bother.
hmmmm....definition of plagiarism is to pass someone else's work as your own. what if I write at the beginning: this is not my own work. does that clear me of any problems?

[encore1101]

only your teacher can help you with this

[Sinatra]

do some soul searching, brother or sister. take some time to yourself and freshen up a bit, then go to your professor and get a better sense of what is expected of you. Most students are probably having questions regarding the law rather than formatting/forming rules right now, so s/he should be able to clear that up for you when you ask.

[Ilikecoldweather]

I have never not stolen something from precedent in a contract drafting assignment. I usually start with model forms on Westlaw and tailor them to fulfill the assignment's objectives. It's not like a research paper. Contract language is legally operative. You have to steal from old contracts, especially when SCOTUS rules that "hereby assigns" is an assignment while "agrees to assign" is just a promise to assign in the future. No professor would think you're trying to pass off an assignment clause as your own original expression.

But ask your professor if you're concerned.

[BeeTeeZ]

how do you know whether plagiarism is acceptable for an assignment?
example: assignment is to draft a contract.
Does your contract have to pass plagiarism checkers?
if you're going to say "ask your teacher" my teacher is one of those people who answer a question with a question and make you even more confused. I am not going to bother.
hmmmm....definition of plagiarism is to pass someone else's work as your own. what if I write at the beginning: this is not my own work. does that clear me of any problems?

Plagiarism is never acceptable.