Plagiarism and Copyrights

Ferdinand B. Pitagan, PhDProfessor of Education

University of the PhilippinesCollege of EducationEducational Technology DepartmentEDUC190 – Computers in Education

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means

• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own

• to use (another's production) without crediting the source

• to commit literary theft • to present as new and original an idea or

product derived from an existing source.

Source: http://www.plagiarism.org/

Types of PlagiarismSources Not Cited • "The Ghost Writer" "The Photocopy" • "The Potluck Paper" • "The Poor Disguise" • "The Labor of Laziness" • "The Self-Stealer"

Sources Cited (But Still Plagiarized)• "The Forgotten Footnote" • "The Misinformer" • "The Too-Perfect Paraphrase" • "The Resourceful Citer" • "The Perfect Crime"

Source: http://www.plagiarism.org/

Burke’s survey with 742 Faculty, USA 86% had suspected plagiarism; 65% had found it in the classroom

A UK survey of 943 sophomoresReasons for plagiarism: too much homework, high pressure

Some studies (e.g. Hayes & Introna, 2005)Cultural norms play a role;Seriousness in plagiarizing Internet sources

Plagiarism

PlagiarismRinnert and Kobayashi (2005)

-- 605 Japanese and 76 American college students

--- Japanese college students lack understanding in the need to fully and correctly cite sources compared with their American counterparts

--- Do not perceive the borrowing ideas or words without appropriate citations as unethical or reprehensible

--- Lack of institutional policies and systematic training for correctly citing sources in academic writing in Japanese colleges

Norris (2007)

--- Only a small number of Japanese universities have established coherent policies on anti-plagiarism or academic integrity

--- Japanese teachers tend to tolerate plagiarism (## all Japanese universities have introduced privacy protection measures since the Personal Information Protection Law was enforced in 2005)

Basic Term of Protection

• Japan: 50 years• Mexico: 100 years• Colombia: 80 years• Germany, France, Italy, UK, Argentine,

Brazil, and USA: 70 years• India: 60 years• Iran: 30 years• Philippines ???

Copyright issues in Education

• See http://www.cric.or.jp/cric_e/cs_1/case1.html

Copyrights/Ownership

• Belong to a person who creates a idea (author)

• To own copyrights of the author - Separate contract needed

• Copying possible for home use, personal/small scale use

• Educational institutions – fair use – one time, educational purposes, classroom use, a portion of book or digital materials (only for teachers)

Copyrights/Ownership

• P2P file sharing (Music file sharing) – illegal• YouTube – some contain copyrighted work • Freeware / shareware (free of charge or

charged) – generally ok, but sometimes involve copyright issues

http://www.cric.or.jp/cric_e/

Cases• Students’ work – copyrights• Pre-existing teaching materials / others – can be

used without authorization in school teaching contexts

• Distributed learning environment (distance education; e-learning), materials can be shared if in non-profit educational contexts

• Special lectures? – get permission from speaker

## Ideas, copyright protected? No unless expressed

http://www.cric.or.jp/cric_e/

The President-elect asks YOUR Committee….

To outline and review existing Philippine Copyright Laws; To make suggestions for revision/elaboration

Group Activity: Committee on Promoting Academic Integrity

Plagiarism Prevention

1. Systematic Training2. Institutional Policies

– Explain What "Plagiarism" Means; What's Wrong About Plagiarism

– Make the Consequences Clear – Clear Expectations – How to cite properly