2

I was looking through the >10k flag queue and saw a valid if not particularly good answer that had been automatically (and correctly) marked as an exact duplicate of another answer. Now, while the two answers (given to different questions) were indeed exact duplicates of each other, they were both written by the same user.

So, what we have here is not a case of plagiarism, the user simply considered his answer to be applicable to both questions (not dupes by the way) so he/she copied it over.

My first instinct was to flag as "invalid flag" but on the other hand, it is true that this is indeed a duplicate answer. Do we have a policy on this? If not, I suggest that such cases be allowed, I see nothing wrong with copying your own answer if it also fits another question. Copying other people's is a no no of course.

PS. I am not linking to the actual posts in question so as to not attack the user, if you feel that the links are necessary, let me know.

2
  • Take a good look at the questions. Frequently they are very alike and might warrant closing one (after a little editing). Another option is that the questions really are different, and the answers, while otherwise valid, actually should be a bit different to address the differences. This is often the case with more detailed instruction on how to apply a solution.
    – Daniel Beck Mod
    Commented Feb 26, 2014 at 19:14
  • @DanielBeck agreed but neither seems to be the case here. The Qs are both about different USB problems and the answer is suggesting it may be a firmware issue. It is equally applicable to both as far as I can tell and though I wouldn't upvote it, I wouldn't flag it either. Come into the chat with a mod room if you want to have a look at the actual posts in question.
    – terdon
    Commented Feb 26, 2014 at 19:19

0

Reset to default

Browse other questions tagged .