Self plagiarism? Ethical question.

[pootpoot]

If you are in two separate classes, but have a writing assignment for each. One being a literature review, and the other a research paper, but the topic is the same, would it be unethical to use the literature review as a component of the research paper? I hadn't even considered this being problematic until today and now am freaking out as the 20 page paper is due Saturday and I don't want to ask my prof in case he says no, leaving me with no time to choose another topic.

Any insight would be appreciated.

[Sigaba]

58 minutes ago, pootpoot said:

If you are in two separate classes, but have a writing assignment for each. One being a literature review, and the other a research paper, but the topic is the same, would it be unethical to use the literature review as a component of the research paper? I hadn't even considered this being problematic until today and now am freaking out as the 20 page paper is due Saturday and I don't want to ask my prof in case he says no, leaving me with no time to choose another topic.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Your best bet would be to consult your institution's guidelines/rules on academic integrity. If you read something that clearly states that your plan is okay, you're probably okay. If you don't find such clarity, you will want to reach out to the instructors of both classes to get their blessing.

In the event either asks you "Why are you asking now?" --as opposed to weeks/months ago-- give them an honest answer "It hadn't occurred to you."

If either says that your planned approach is not acceptable, try to ask for guidance on how to proceed.

[pootpoot]

Thanks for the advice. After looking more closely I found reference that suggests it would be acceptable if the piece was "substantially revised". So it sounds like there is a significant amount of discretion involved. I am going to revise as heavily as possible and hope for the best, at this point I can't properly research another topic in time.

[Sigaba]

On 12/4/2019 at 5:21 PM, pootpoot said:

Thanks for the advice. After looking more closely I found reference that suggests it would be acceptable if the piece was "substantially revised". So it sounds like there is a significant amount of discretion involved. I am going to revise as heavily as possible and hope for the best, at this point I can't properly research another topic in time.

Could looking at a different body of secondary literature count as "substantially revised"? For example, a review of how historians write about the Cold War followed by a review of how political scientists look at the Cold War.