Purpose: In dictionaries and technical literature, the term plagiarism relate, as a rule, the following circumstances: the presence of intentional actions, misappropriation of someone else’s work or portion thereof. Its characteristic feature - the lack of reference to the source of borrowing. The attribution of authorship is possible in respect of unprotected intellectual property: discoveries, rationalization proposals, reflecting the needs of society in improving the quality of final qualifying works. Methods: dialectics, abstraction, analysis, synthesis, deduction, logic, formal-legal method. Results. The article shows the main factors lowering the efficiency of detecting plagiarism in scientific works is the dogma of «protection of forms of the work» dogma «subjective novelty», «composite work». The proposals to improve the detection of plagiarism in academic work, including clarification of certain provisions of part IV of the civil code and application software «Antiplagiat». To improve the quality of the final qualification and other scientific work, it seems appropriate to waive the enumerated dogmas and regulations. Scientific and practical significance. The conclusions can be used in scientific, legislative and law enforcement practice, the educational process of institutions of higher education, and in raising the qualifications of scientific and technical personnel and scientific-pedagogical personnel, primarily in the field of intellectual property.