This paper limits itself to the discussion of plagiarism and its unethical nature in research. The concept is discussed from the scientific article Eret, E., & Gokmenoglu, T. (2010). Plagiarism in higher education: a case study with prospective academician . Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 3303–3307. Issues covered entail its contribution in affecting the credible of scientific research and concludes by suggesting measures aimed at controlling plagiarism.
Plagiarism is used to refer to “literary theft” where one person wrongfully takes the words or ideas of another and using them as one’s own. There are several other definitions that different scholars have used to give meaning to the word ‘plagiarism’. However, one common thin that comes out in all these definition is that plagiarism is a form of literary theft. Plagiarism has an interdisciplinary nature and is not only common in science. A variety of articles has been presented on the topic of plagiarism because of its nature and because of the fact that it becoming a common phenomenon among research students. In effect to the commonality of the phenomenon, there has been significant effort to detect plagiarism in academic and scientific research papers.
According to Eret and Gokmenoglu (2010), there are reasons why researchers and students in general would engage in the unethical practice of plagiarism. In the article, issues such as poor and factors in teaching and learning are among the reasons why students would engage in plagiarism. In addition, some researchers and students may not be fully informed about ethical standards of science and research. Considering the growing nature of the problem, there is need for researchers to be well informed about ethical standards during practice.
In the current information system age, there is a lot of effort done to improve educational and research experience for all stakeholders. However, this freedom to find and access a huge volume of information has created a situation where some of the stakeholders would be tempted to create commit plagiarism though copying and pasting. None the less, with the improvement of technology, there are electronic tools that can be used as a means to detect plagiarism in an academic paper. There has also been promotion of academic ethics in the process of learning and teaching as a means to increase the knowledge of students concerning the topic. Also, in addition, strict penalties have been imposed on those found to commit the crime.
According to Eret and Gokmenoglu (2010), these measures may be fully in place to stop researchers from committing plagiarism, however, none of these measures can alone eliminate the practice. The study conducted by Eret and Gokmenoglu (2010) it sought to find out the views of the participants regarding the topic of plagiarism within their academic institutions. It also sought to find out the level in which the participants are knowledgeable about the topic. In addition, the study intended to find out the factors that cause researchers and students to commit plagiarism. The in the study were research assistants at faculty of education at METU.
Based on the first research question, most of the participants indicated that there is a need to put references in academic and scientific papers. Moreover, the participants recognized that avoiding plagiarism is important. Researchers and students generally have a conscious about plagiarism. It is known within practice of scientific research that researchers need to avoid plagiarism. Taking precautions about plagiarism is important for higher education institutions. An institution which applies ethical standards in research will be more conscious with the issue of plagiarism compared to one that does not have the standards operational. From the research study of Eret and Gokmenoglu (2010), within the site of the study, the institution has as applied ethics research center which sets rules regarding ethical issues in research and science. As a result the, some of the findings in the research were predominantly positive because of the impact of the rules. From the findings, it may be clear that plagiarism is an unethical practice that kills the originality of research. For instance, in as much avoiding plagiarism is important, research and academic institutions may fail to implement strict precaution measures against plagiarism. Researchers and students in general, would sometimes engage in practices such as paying someone else to write their assignments.
Students are supposed to be co researchers in the various academic fields. If they fail to put references in their work, they are not only committing plagiarism but also failing to further develop earlier research studies. The student who are also prospect researchers, sometimes violate the rules regarding plagiarism. From the study conducted by Eret and Gokmenoglu (2010), the test score for plagiarism among the research assistants was considerably lower than what was expected as academicians. This is despite the fact that the participants generally stated that they are aware and knowledgeable about plagiarism. This therefore implies that research assistants and students would have the knowledge about plagiarism but may fail to honor it because of insufficient academic knowledge or program of awareness.
Plagiarism has negative impact on research. Basically, plagiarism acts as a hindrance to the development of scientific skills. Researchers who violate rules against plagiarism due to the several reasons stated determined by Eret and Gokmenoglu (2010), do not make contribution to research. In scientific research studies, they have to be done in such a way that to offer room for development by suggesting areas where further research needs to be done. However, such important research and scientific skills fail to be developed when researcher violate rules against plagiarism.
Plagiarism also affects the credibility of research paper. The offenders of plagiarism are considered dishonest. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to give credit to any paper that is plagiarized. Credibility is important in science and research as most of the areas affected by the research findings base their decisions on evidence. Credibility matters a lot when it comes to using the findings a particular research as a basis for decisions during practice. In addition, plagiarism does not only affect research but also the researchers. As earlier stated, there are strict measures imposed on those who are found to violate the rules against plagiarism. Depending with the institution, there are different policies regarding plagiarism. This means that different research and academic institution may choose to deal with the issue of plagiarism differently.
Legal actions also affect offenders of plagiarism. Laws regarding copy right apply to researchers who publish materials which are plagiarized. Therefore researchers are expected to be careful during reporting and writing academic papers since their credibility is at stake. The issues presented in the study by Eret and Gokmenoglu (2010) leading to students and research assistants committing plagiarism can be addressed in order to avoid it. When it comes to students, Eret and Gokmenoglu (2010) mentions that work load can sometimes be too much with a short deadline forcing the students to plagiarize.
References
Eret, E., & Gokmenoglu, T. (2010). Plagiarism in higher education: a case study with prospective academician . Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 3303–3307.
