Everyone, stop what you're doing. Or drop it, whatever floats your boat. I have done it, I have found the single greatest and most hilarious instance of plagiarism ever. Mankind was born for this moment to transpire.
It all began with a man named Paul Tolme, a nature writer of humble ways. In search of divine inspiration, he partook of a quest. A quest to the lost land of South Dakota, where he would study black-footed ferrets for a research article.
Not a very exciting article, you would think. How is one to spice it up? Why, add it to a sultry romance novel, of course. That's exactly what Cassie Edwards, author of Shadow Bear, decided to do. For some reason, she thought it would be a good idea to take the descriptive and highly-detailed words of Mr. Tolme, and just copy them straight into her book.
Why is this Academic Dishonesty? I admit, it may not be entirely academic, but it certainly is dishonesty, and no one can deny it’s absolutely hilarious. For one, she included no citations or credits to Paul Tolme. Two, she didn’t even bother changing the wording or phrasing to match her own, to maybe try and cover up this horrible sin she was committing. Critics of her book, Shadow Bear, took notice of the scene where she used Paul Tolme’s article and specifically stated that it was clunky and awkward, even for her. (Theweek, “8 Hilarious Instances of Plagiarism”)
Fortunately, Paul Tolme recognized the fact that he had been blatantly stolen from, and was able to revel in the absurdity of it all. To know that your precious work was unceremoniously thrown uncredited into a romance novel and then sold to the masses… That’s a feeling I can only dream of one day experiencing.
Source(Because I'm not a hypocritical tool):
“8 Hilarious Instances of Plagiarism,” TheWeek, last modified February 23, 2013, accessed November 4, 2015. http://theweek.com/articles/467343/8-hilarious-instances-plagiarism (Entry #6)