Research Methodology : Plagiarism & Academic Integrity : A Brief Discussion

Introduction : This blog is written as a part of the Thinking Activity assigned by Megha Madam regarding Research Methodology. In this blog, we will discuss two questions that are related to academic Research Project Writing.

1. Why Academic Integrity is necessary? Write your views.

Answer : In the age of rapidly growing internet and technology, especially its effect upon the academic dynamics, the necessity of academic integrity is what makes a researcher authentic and trustworthy in his/her professional as well as personal life. As many of the world religions feared people to be morally upright, so has come the need for the research scholars to be morally and ethically straightforward when it comes to their research project writing.

Academic Integrity has its own crucial and unique place in the area of research as it bases its fundamentals on the ethical identity of researcher, supervisor, committee, and the institute. 

ChatGPT Activity : 

When prompted on the needs of Academic Integrity, ChatGPT Open AI responded as follows : 

(1) Prompt : Why Academic Integrity is necessary in research project writing? 

Response : Academic integrity is essential in research project writing for several reasons. Firstly, it is a fundamental principle of academic work, and it is important to maintain standards of honesty and accuracy in all aspects of research. By adhering to academic integrity, researchers can ensure that their work is reliable, trustworthy, and can be used to inform future research. 

Secondly, academic integrity helps to ensure that credit is given where it is due. When researchers use ideas or information from other sources, they must give credit to the original authors through proper citation and referencing. This not only acknowledges the contributions of others, but also helps to prevent plagiarism. 

Thirdly, academic integrity fosters an environment of intellectual honesty and respect for the work of others. Researchers who follow academic integrity standards are expected to accurately represent their research findings, to avoid manipulating data or results, and to report their work honestly, even if the findings are unexpected or negative. 

Finally, academic integrity is necessary to maintain the reputation of the academic community. When researchers engage in academic dishonesty, it undermines the credibility of the entire academic enterprise. By upholding high standards of academic integrity, researchers help to ensure that the work of the academic community is respected and valued. 

(2) What if researchers fail in maintaining Academic Integrity? 

Response : If researchers fail to maintain academic integrity, it can have serious consequences for both themselves and the broader academic community. 

If an instance of academic dishonesty is discovered, it can lead to the researcher's work being discredited, which can damage their reputation and career prospects. In some cases, it may result in disciplinary action, such as revocation of academic degrees or sanctions by professional organizations. 

Furthermore, academic dishonesty can damage the trust and credibility of the academic community as a whole. It can also lead to legal consequences, such as copyright infringement or intellectual property theft, which can have serious legal and financial implications. 

Overall, failing to maintain academic integrity can undermine the credibility of the entire academic enterprise, and it is essential for researchers to adhere to high standards of honesty and accuracy in all aspects of their work. 

Here is a fruitful video lecture on the topic Academic Integrity by Dr. William Potter :

2. Short Notes on : 

(A) Forms of Plagiarism

(B) When Documentation is Not Needed

(C) Issues Related to Plagiarism

Answer :

(A) Forms of Plagiarism : 

(1) Direct Plagiarism : Direct plagiarism is the word-for-word transcription of a section of someone else’s work, without attribution and without quotation marks. The deliberate plagiarism of someone else's work is unethical, academically dishonest, and grounds for disciplinary actions, including expulsion. 

(2) Self Plagiarism : Self-plagiarism occurs when a student submits his or her own previous work, or mixes parts of previous works, without permission from all professors involved. For example, it would be unacceptable to incorporate part of a term paper you wrote in high school into a paper assigned in a college course. Self-plagiarism also applies to submitting the same piece of work for assignments in different classes without previous permission from both professors. 

(3) Mosaic Plagiarism : Mosaic Plagiarism occurs when a student borrows phrases from a source without using quotation marks, or finds synonyms for the author’s language while keeping to the same general structure and meaning of the original. Sometimes called “patch writing,” this kind of paraphrasing, whether intentional or not, is academically dishonest and punishable – even if you footnote your source! (Bowdoin) 

(B) When Documentation is Not Needed : 

While writing the research paper, it will be of no problem if one does not cite the sources of the generally known cathphrases, authors's biographic details, general use of words, idioms, etc. 

(C) Issues Related to Plagiarism : 

The seriousness of plagiarism is not relative to its quantity, but to the extent of its consequences. Here, we present ten potential consequences of plagiarism. 

(This text has been taken and adapted from the article Bergadaà, M., 2013, Ouverture, Culture & Sociétés, N° 28, 2013, pp. 18-22, and from Bergadaa, M., 2015, Appréhender la gravité du plagiat, in Le plagiat académique, comprendre pour agir, L’Harmattan, Questions contemporaines.) 

1 – Plagiarism Affects Authors 

Plagiarizing amounts to far more than simply stealing a piece of work: it is claiming to be the author of that work.  For the author, the feeling of having been symbolically eliminated can be devastating. And even if nobody disputes that an individual has created the work in question, it is natural for the plagiarized to feel violated. Theft of a work of the mind is unique in its kind: it is a serious breach of the rights of personality. We should recall that the rights of the personality cannot be transmitted, so their violation requires suitable compensation. So far, the law has not provided a suitable framework for this. 

2 – Plagiarists Swindle… Readers 

Plagiarism threatens the foundations of knowledge. Plagiarism destroys the links to past knowledge by refusing readers access to sources. 

3 – Plagiarism Infringes Authors’ Future Rights 

When original ideas are stolen from an author, not only is he robbed of the result of his/her research, but also, if he continues to publish on his research topic he will be obliged to systematically cite his plagiarist who after all, can claim prior publication. In fact, the plagiarized manuscript is part of a chronological sequence obliging any subsequent author on the subject to cite this same manuscript. When plagiarism concerns a work the victim has already published, the damage is limited because he can claim his rights. However, this is a different matter for young authors who have only presented preliminary results at a conference or whose co-authors are dishonest. In such cases, the victim often gives up on his subject (after studying for months or even years), thereby depriving science of his skills. 

4 – Plagiarism Induces Pointless Research 

Only rarely is plagiarism a copy paste of an entire work. Most plagiarists borrow patchily from previous publications. It is easy to see how these post-modern artists proceed, composing collages of works from different genres or perspectives pretending to give new meaning to a complex reality. Their disruption of citation conventions could even be understood as an extension of this “creativity”. But what is the point in making a patchwork of texts or ideas from different contexts and levels of analysis with incoherent epistemological perspectives? 

5 – Plagiarism Defrauds the System  

Nobody has more than twenty-four hours in a day. If you know how long it takes to produce a decent piece of research, the number of publications in certain researchers’ CVs is truly miraculous! Plagiarism makes it easy to lengthen the list of publications on a CV and when promotion or recruitment commissions seek quantity, they offer plagiarist positions they should never have obtained. Plagiarism thus results in favoring the cheat to the detriment of the honest author. We should mention that self-plagiarism – using the same article to increase the number of publications on a CV – is also fraud. 

6 – Plagiarism Also Encourages Sloppy Research 

Plagiarism gradually saps authors’ confidence, as what starts as a “one-off” may grow into an offense the plagiarist can no longer do without. From plagiarizing here and there, the lapses become more and more frequent until this laziness becomes a habit that ignores any moral distinction. Some plagiarists  know that what they are doing is not right; however they gradually bend the rules and carelessness – or even addiction – sets in. In the gray area of sloppy research, the frontier between real science and fake knowledge becomes blurred. What was initially probably no more than a one-off, gradually morphs into dishonest behavior, and dishonest behavior results in sloppy research. A researcher who does not hesitate to lift others’ ideas or cheat in publications is likely to take the same approach when it comes to “inventing” empirical evidence. 

7 – Plagiarism Obstructs the Work of Scientific Journals 

A persistent myth is that scientific journals remain the guardians of academic knowledge. Rowland[1] identifies four basic functions of scientific journals on which there is a broad consensus in the scientific milieu[2]: diffusing knowledge, archiving canons of knowledge, quality control of publications and attributing authors’ reputation and rankings. These journals are essential to academia whose social world classifies researchers into those who are (or are not) suitable to be hired by an institution, or become directors of laboratories or research centers, for example. (Irafpa) 

Conclusion : Academic Integrity holds its own important as it deals with the seriousness of information providing in forms of research papers, articles, journals, and doctorate thesis so much so that it leaves a life long mark on both the researcher and the institute, good one if followed and practised, doubtful if failed in practicing it with honesty and uprightness. 

Thank you! 

Works Cited : 

“Chatgpt.” ChatGPT, https://chat.apps.openai.com/auth/login. 

Bowdoin. “The Common Types of Plagiarism.” Dean of Students, https://www.bowdoin.edu/dean-of-students/conduct-review-board/academic-honesty-and-plagiarism/common-types-of-plagiarism.html. 

FerrisStateVideo. (2014). Academic Integrity presented by Dr. Potter. YouTube. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://youtu.be/z9w-Cu6h1e0. 

“The Ten Consequences of Plagiarism.” Edited by Irafpa, Responsable Academia, https://irafpa.org/en/methods/investigating-cases-of-plagiarism/the-ten-consequences-of-plagiarism/.