It's plagiarism whether you intended to do so or not

Considering how the University of Virginia agonized over revising its code concerning plagiarism, consider what the American Historical Association (AHA) was doing BEFORE the Alison Routman incident at Semester at Sea (run by UVa):

As noted at HNN, the AHA dropped the phrase "By using someone else's work with an intent to deceive" from its "Statement on Plagiarism," thereby eliminating the most easily copped plea from the plagiarist's repertoire of excuses. As James Gardner, the AHA's deputy executive director, told the Chicago Tribune in 1990, "The conclusion of our professional division is that that was a loophole that virtually everyone was using. When you come down to it, it's plagiarism whether you intended to do so or not." The AHA also revised its "Addendum on Policies and Procedures" to state that if the Professional Division "decides that other action is needed such as full public disclosure of an individual case, it may direct the Vice-President to seek approval for that action from the Council."