The first known use ofself-plagiarismwas in 1833.Merriam-Webster defines it as "the reuse of one's own words, ideas, or artistic expression (as in an essay) from preexisting material especially without acknowledgment of their earlier use".Borrowing your own words is a tricky issue. … Writers and publishers tend to rankself-plagiarismas a lesser offense than—what should we call it?—"real" plagiarism? Still, they mostly agree it's a no-no. — Taylor WoffordQuestions.How do you define self-plagiarism? How to properly use one's own previous works in an academic paper?