Academic · Question 99 of 100

What “Plagiarized a paper?” means

Item 99 on the 100-question Rice Purity Test reads “Plagiarized a paper?”. Here is what the wording covers, where readers reasonably disagree about it, and exactly how much it moves your score.

Guidance written and reviewed 2026-07-26

Adult and sensitive content

The full checklist is intended for adults aged 18 and over and includes explicit topics. You may leave any item unchecked, exit the test, or delete saved checks. An unchecked item is scored the same whether the experience did not occur or you preferred not to answer.

What the question is asking

Item 99 asks whether you have plagiarised a paper — presented someone else's writing as your own. It closes the academic category and is the more specific of the two dishonesty items.

Where people disagree about what counts

Where sloppy citation ends and plagiarism begins is genuinely unclear, and it is the main thing takers weigh here. A missed reference in an otherwise original essay is read as an error by most people; copying passages without attribution is read as plagiarism by everyone.

The test is self-scored and nobody else ever sees your answer, so the only thing that matters is applying one reading consistently across the whole checklist.

How item 99 fits with the items around it

Item 99 is the last item before the checklist's final entry, and it is the specific case of which item 98 is the general one. It is also the last item in the second half that has nothing to do with the sexual category the list returns to at item 100.

Item 98, before this one Cheated on a test or homework assignment? Item 100, after this one Had sexual intercourse with someone you met online?

How it affects the score

Every question has the same one-point effect. Checking item 99 subtracts one point from the starting score of 100. Leaving it unchecked subtracts nothing, and no item on the checklist is weighted more heavily than any other.

Final score = 100 − total checked boxes

The final number never identifies this answer or any other individual answer — it is a count, so it discards which items were selected the moment it is calculated. Read the full scoring guide or look up an exact result on the 0–100 score chart.

Questions about item 99

Does a missed citation count as plagiarism?

Most takers treat an accidental missed reference as an error rather than plagiarism. Copying passages without attribution is unambiguous.

Is item 99 different from item 98?

Yes. Item 98 is cheating generally; item 99 is plagiarism specifically. Both are separate points.

Does using generated text count?

The checklist predates the question and says nothing about it. Takers who consider it presenting someone else's work as their own generally check the item.

Privacy and choice

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Use the delete control to remove saved progress, or clear this site's data in your browser settings. See the storage and privacy methodology for exact behavior.