Rutgers' policy on academic integrity identifies plagiarism as "...the use of another person's words, ideas, or results without giving person appropriate credit" (Academic Integrity Policy 2A). In order to avoid plagiarizing, Rutgers requires that direct quotes must be identified with quotes, and direct/paraphrased excerpts must be cited. This is referring to a very specific and rigid definition of plagiarism, in which a student attempts to incorporate an idea from an external source and claim it as their own original work. Lethem's definition of plagiarism does not have much to do with directly copying other works. Instead, he uses plagiarism as a way to describe how no thought is completely original. Any thought that we have is by default building on previous knowledge and ideas that we've been exposed to before. This continuous building upon previous works allows for new ideas to improve the original, and for advancement to occur. While plagiarism at Rutgers is rigidly categorized as nefarious, Lethem celebrates the idea of borrowing ideas from the others. What distinguishes the two from each other is the level of credit required. Often, when plagiarism is evaluated at Rutgers, the student has directly taken from an external work. In Lethem's case, the 'plagiarism' is more abstract, as we derive our ideas from past experiences subconsciously. It is important that we shift away from demonizing plagiarism, and move towards an understanding of the importance of citation while also acknowledging the collective nature of knowledge.
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