If you see a copy-paste topic from newsletters

[CryptocurencyKing]

In my opinion, it's ok to copy paste an article as long as it was useful, informative and give credits to the real owner/source. Most of the good quality article in the has been flooded by many low quality article. So doing research and searching for it just to share it here was already commendable and deserve a merit. On the attached topic that you mention.

I see your reasons as to why you seem to agree with copy and paste so long as it comes with a source but, I still find it wrong. Copy and paste is frawned at not just because it robs the original poster of his credibility for his work of course, by posting the source you stand to remedy that but, why post a source when what is behind your source is exactly the same. or is it that you don't trust forum users to source for information not readily displayed on the boards so, you choose to rob them of their curiosity. This shouldn't be the case. There is no point in copying and pasting anything even with a source, it clouds the boards and the content wouldn't be better appreciated with the fact that, it's a direct replica of the source.

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[Coin_trader]

In my opinion, it's ok to copy paste an article as long as it was useful, informative and give credits to the real owner/source. Most of the good quality article in the has been flooded by many low quality article. So doing research and searching for it just to share it here was already commendable and deserve a merit. On the attached topic that you mention.

I see your reasons as to why you seem to agree with copy and paste so long as it comes with a source but, I still find it wrong. Copy and paste is frawned at not just because it robs the original poster of his credibility for his work of course, by posting the source you stand to remedy that but, why post a source when what is behind your source is exactly the same. or is it that you don't trust forum users to source for information not readily displayed on the boards so, you choose to rob them of their curiosity. This shouldn't be the case. There is no point in copying and pasting anything even with a source, it clouds the boards and the content wouldn't be better appreciated with the fact that, it's a direct replica of the source.

First of all this is my opinion and I never ask for your opinion. I explain already my point on why I consider it giving a merit and that's my final decision because I'm the one who will give the merit, Not you and the other guy who quoted my opinion above. We have different perspective on how we use our merit. Theymos release guidelines but we are not bound to strictly follow it because merit is unmoderated which means we can still do what we think is right.

Answering your explanation about source. Do you think it will be good to create a thread that contains the link of the thread alone?? You guys view the copy-paste thing that I mention literally. Of course the OP copy and put here the main point of the article alone and cutting all the small details. With that being said, the message here will be direct to the point on the subject matter.

I hope you guys comphrend first the logic of my post. I'm not interested on others point view on this subject matter because merit is unmoderated same as the trust system so obviously all possible comments here is very subjective. We have different perspective.

[d_fitrie]

In my opinion, it's ok to copy paste an article as long as it was useful, informative and give credits to the real owner/source. Most of the good quality article in the has been flooded by many low quality article. So doing research and searching for it just to share it here was already commendable and deserve a merit. On the attached topic that you mention.

I disagree, It takes mere minutes to find quality article, copy-paste and add source.

many post copy and paste but it's no longer relevant, modern times are still copy and paste, make sure what you share is your own, even though some of it is taken from other people's articles but it can be proven that the source is clear.

[vania vin]

In my opinion, it's ok to copy paste an article as long as it was useful, informative and give credits to the real owner/source. Most of the good quality article in the has been flooded by many low quality article. So doing research and searching for it just to share it here was already commendable and deserve a merit. On the attached topic that you mention.

I disagree, It takes mere minutes to find quality article, copy-paste and add source.

I agree with you that copying and pasting is very easy to find on the internet.

Gathering information from several sources is good and you conclude and you create one more solid article of your own.

[The Cryptovator]

If I notice a user just copy-paste directly includes ads of articles and simply add the link on the bottom of the post, then no, I will never send merit on such as a post. There should be included a few valuable and constructive discussions by OP, then I might consider to send merit if the post is useful for me or for the community. Those users practice this thing, I doubt most of them have an alt account which has been doing a signature campaign. But good thing is, a few managers don't accept such as posts for weekly payments. I think when all managers will do the same thing then users will leave such as behavior. I someone wants to share news, then simply he can paste the link only with a title. So if someone is interested to read then they might proceed. No need to copy-paste the whole article.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

Random thoughts

With the article from coindesk https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-options-bullish-put-call-ratio, I takes the first paragraph and want to ask you ways to copy and paste it at best.

The first way is copy and paste a paragraph with a link at the end.

Bitcoin’s options market is in the midst of its strongest bullish sentiment on record as the cryptocurrency rallies to three-year highs.

The six-month put-call skew, or the spread between prices claimed by put options and call options expiring in six months, fell to a life-time low of -21.6% early Thursday, according to data source Skew.

A call option gives the holder the right but not the obligation to buy the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. A put option gives the right to sell.
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-options-bullish-put-call-ratio

The second way is to insert the paragraph in quote blocks.

Bitcoin’s options market is in the midst of its strongest bullish sentiment on record as the cryptocurrency rallies to three-year highs.

The six-month put-call skew, or the spread between prices claimed by put options and call options expiring in six months, fell to a life-time low of -21.6% early Thursday, according to data source Skew.

A call option gives the holder the right but not the obligation to buy the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. A put option gives the right to sell.

https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-options-bullish-put-call-ratio

What do you like? The second way clearly shows all the words and all the paragraph is not my words.

Although two ways are acceptable (with links, they are acceptable), I like the second way as it clearly shows I don't try to hide which words are mine and which words are copy-paste. The first way can be used to fake that I am writing a quality post.

Should quote block is mandatory if you copy and paste many words (when total words are 100 or 200). Paraphrase is only accepted if you do it with short paragraph. If the paragraph is long, paraphrase is not accepted. I feel it can be applied to copy and paste. Too long, please use quote block.

'bitcoinst' abusing signature campaign with alt account & spamming by copy-paste

[iamsheikhadil]

I will give merit if it's an important news article which I might not have found even if it's from a news source.

If an article is readily available on public domain, then that user wouldn't have posted it in the first place. If they did, that means they are making it easier for to find the useful information early and if it's valuable information I'll give merit.

But, if it's readily available and a news that is really not important then I'll just ignore the post.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

I will give merit if it's an important news article which I might not have found even if it's from a news source.

If an article is readily available on public domain, then that user wouldn't have posted it in the first place. If they did, that means they are making it easier for to find the useful information early and if it's valuable information I'll give merit.

But, if it's readily available and a news that is really not important then I'll just ignore the post.

Hi iamsheikhadil. Do you think I discussed about merit?  

Your post is off topic. I did not discuss merit in today post. I discussed ways to copy and paste and do not abuse it to fake quality.

A Guide to Plagiarism and Paraphrasing

Verbatim plagiarism: You copy someone else’s work word for word.

How to Avoid Plagiarism
Quoting: If you don’t want to alter a source, use quotation marks to enclose all verbatim phrases.

The forum has a quote block and it can be used rather than quotation marks.

If you makes a book, you can not copy and paste (or steal) all chapters, word by word from another original book. Print it and simply put the original author name or link to original article. Purdueglobal's article says it is Verbatim plagiarism.

[Pmalek]

The second option is better. I usually put copied text into quote brackets and use italicized or in some cases bolded fonts if I want to highlight a certain part of the text for more attention.

Regarding your question of meriting posts containing only info from press releases and other media.
I almost never do that. It would have to be something very helpful or useful for me personally or the community to be merit-worthy. A copy-pasted article seldom is. If it was posted in the local forum and translated and made to fit a certain language, the user made some effort at least.   

[Rikafip]

The second option is better. I usually put copied text into quote brackets and use italicized or in some cases bolded fonts if I want to highlight a certain part of the text for more attention.

I would go even step further and say that 2nd option should be the only one accepted here. Since bitcointalk already has strong stance towards plagiarism and verbatim copying without proper quotation is generally seen as such, it should be enforced here as well. I don't say that people should be  immediately banned over this, but it should be seen as low value post if done excessively and dealt in appropriate manner. That way people would start using quotation marks properly, and eventually amount of useless c/p posts and topics would go down.

Now question is, why people don't bother with that? It is probably due few different reasons:

• Some want to appear more knowledgeable than they really are, and when you put something in quotation marks, it is obvious that it's not your original thought.
• Ignorance. I am pretty sure that quite a few of those doing that don't even know about proper way to deal with direct copying from external source.
• Poor/mediocre English level. Sentences look much better when copied directly and then just link shared at the bottom of the post instead of  trying to write something of your own.
• Merit farming. This tactic can be very successful as people don't really care about these things when they share the merit.
• Last but not the least, filling up signature quota. What's easier than copying something without adding personal comment?

Direct copy/paste should be clearly visible from the moment you start reading the post, as simple as that.

If you see a post looks lengthy and have good information but at end of it, poster leaves a source to a newsletter article, will you send merit to a poster?

If it was just c/p article (or part of an article) without some personal comment about the issue, I won't merit it, simply because I don't want to encourage that kind of laziness, and by meriting low effort posts that's what we do. As @Pmalek said, it would have to be something incredibly important to me to merit such post, and even then I would think twice.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

They try to fake quality by ignore quote brackets or quote blocks put link at the end and write a few words (that shorter than what they copy and paste) to legalize post. I did not know the Verbatim plagiarism after I search with Google and see that article.

Even link is provided, it is verbatim plagiarism.

[Pmalek]

Now question is, why people don't bother with that? It is probably due few different reasons:

• Some want to appear more knowledgeable than they really are, and when you put something in quotation marks, it is obvious that it's not your original thought.
• Ignorance. I am pretty sure that quite a few of those doing that don't even know about proper way to deal with direct copying from external source.
• Poor/mediocre English level. Sentences look much better when copied directly and then just link shared at the bottom of the post instead of  trying to write something of your own.
• Merit farming. This tactic can be very successful as people don't really care about these things when they share the merit.
• Last but not the least, filling up signature quota. What's easier than copying something without adding personal comment?

I made a thread last year titled Plagiarism as a result of cultural differences.
The thread is based on an article that talks about the different stances that different cultures have on plagiarism issues. In the US, plagiarism is a big no-go in academic circles. In other parts of the world, those less educated have different views on the matter and might not understand why it is an issue at all.   

[Lucius]

What do you like? The second way clearly shows all the words and all the paragraph is not my words.
Although two ways are acceptable (with links, they are acceptable), I like the second way as it clearly shows I don't try to hide which words are mine and which words are copy-paste. The first way can be used to fake that I am writing a quality post.

It's all a matter of personal preference, what is important to show unequivocally what the user wrote himself, and what does not belong to him and comes from some other source. I personally use the following option where text is in the quote, and above is the source.

A call option gives the holder the right but not the obligation to buy the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. A put option gives the right to sell.

Code:

[quote author=][/quote]

[Onuohakk]

In my viewpoint, if the copy-paste newsletter is quite educative and informative and it has a source link. I find no offense to merit the post.
Remember, merits are been given out when a wonderful post is made or share with

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

In my viewpoint, if the copy-paste newsletter is quite educative and informative and it has a source link. I find no offense to merit the post.
Remember, merits are been given out when a wonderful post is made or share with

After that post, I am not discussing about merit with copy paste topic.

What you brought to the discussion with this post is not exact.

I'm hoping that this system will increase post quality by:
 - Forcing people to post high-quality stuff in order to rank up. If you just post garbage, you will never get even 1 merit point, and you will therefore never be able to put links in your signature, etc.
 - Highlighting good posts with the "Merited by" line.

While we will not be directly moderating this, I encourage people to give merit to posts that are objectively high-quality, not just posts that you agree with.

Do not beg for merit excessively.