The paper deals with the issues of civil qualification of illegal actions aimed at creating works of science for third parties, doctrinal approaches and practical consequences of some types of such qualification, the possibility of applying provisions of Article 169 of the RF Civil Code to such actions within the framework of combating plagiarism in science. Attention is drawn to the problem of identifying a private interest infringed by the actions described above. To this end, creation of works of science for third parties is analyzed using the civil design of an invalid transaction. The problem of determining the object of intellectual rights within the framework of the concept underlying Part IV of the RF Civil Code is considered as a theoretical problem that complicates actual fight against plagiarism. As an interim conclusion of the study, it is proposed to admit that the legal tools existing in the current legislation of the Russian Federation in terms of combating plagiarism in the field of science are not effective and need to be improved.