Does submitting TeX sources to arXiv increase risk of plagiarism? It is mandatory that manuscripts that are TeX/LaTeX-based must be submitted along with all source files, which includes the tex document, images and supplementary files (like CSV files) required to generate the PDF.

According to arXiv's TeX FAQ, this sort of submission does not increase the risk of plagiarizing content. They claim that anyone with little knowledge can extract the necessary files from basic PDF files and that verbatim from TeX document can be easily detected.

Now, taking this from the practical viewpoint, is it really true that this does not make plagiarizing data easier than the simple PDF submission? According to my knowledge there are many potential plagiarizers who find it hard to take vector graphics from PDF files. Eventhough it is technically possible it does deter many to an extent.

So, does submitting (La)TeX source files to arXiv increase the risk of getting the plagiarized?
is it really true that this does not make plagiarizing data easier than the simple PDF submission?


The Arxiv doesn’t claim this. All they claim is that plagiarism is pretty easy anyway. The respective Arxiv text reads:


  There is no file format or other technological device that can protect you from [plagiarism]. At the very least, unscrupulous re-typers would always remain a threat. Postscript does not provide a barrier in any event: it is quite simple for someone with a little knowledge to extract any text from a Postscript file. Moreover a plagiarist who cuts-and-pastes directly from your TeX source is all the more easily detected, since the source is easily identified. We archive all versions of papers so that we can assist in any priority or plagiarism disputes.





  So, how safe is it to submit (La)TeX source files to arXiv?


For all practical purposes I would say it is as safe as any other type of Arxiv submission. I concur with the Arxiv that making a technical copy of your article is pretty easy anyway. Even re-typing the entire article and using screenshots of your graphics is a comparably easy task. Yes, the quality may suck, but that wouldn’t bother the plagiarist.

The main challenge to successfully plagiarise is to use the plagiarised article and remain undetected – not making a technical copy.