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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?

only your teacher can help you with this

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.

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.

unclej wrote: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.