Reference:
This published article can be cited as :
Renu, Checking Plagiarism, published in a book Academic and Administrative Audit: A Pre-Requisite for Quality Enhancement, edited by Neerja Dhingra et al., IQAC, DAV College, Hoshiarpur, 2017.
...........................................................................................................................................................
CHECKING PLAGIARISM
Dr. Renu
Professor
Dept. of Public
Administration
Punjabi University
Patiala
Introduction
Academic institutions must aim to cultivate and
maintain an ethos of honesty and academic integrity as education is meant to
promote independent thinking, originality, analytical power, ability to express
one’s ideas clearly and to help us become value-based. But the cancerous growth
of plagiarism is seriously undermining the purpose of education. It
has an adverse impact not only on the individuals but also the integrity of the
universities and the quality of the research. It can be
said that plagiarism is a serious academic offence that may be easy to commit
unintentionally, but it is defined by the
act, not the intention. Hence, it is our responsibility to familiarize
ourselves with the problem of plagiarism.
Meaning:
The
word plagiarism comes from early 17th
century from Latin word plagiarus meaning
‘kidnapper’. According
to Oxford University, “Plagiarism is
presenting someone else’s work or ideas
as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without
full acknowledgement. All published and unpublished material, whether in
manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this definition.
Plagiarism may be intentional or reckless, or unintentional…it is a
disciplinary offence.”[1]
Gravity of the Problem:
Plagiarism is not a new thing but the internet has
only made it faster and easier. The growth of the internet is phenomenal,
giving us immediate access to information on any topic. Many believe that
because technology allows us to copy and paste, there is nothing wrong or
unethical about it.[2]
Sadly, it has put us ‘on the road to immorality’.
Researchers find it hard to resist the temptation of conveniently copying from
the e-sources and other material without acknowledging them. It has grave results as there is a dearth of
genuine new research and no addition to the body of existing knowledge is being
made. Precious time is wasted. Scientific activity is corrupted and quality of
research declines. The plagiarized theses and dissertations lying on the
libraries shelves of the universities become nothing but a heap of infertile
and useless material.
This
shameless research misconduct creates a ripple effect of enormous damages for
researchers, organizations and the general public. The consequences of
plagiarism can be personal, professional, ethical and legal. People indulging in
plagiarism tend to lose passion for original thinking, innovation and the love
for creativity. They always look for shortcuts and plagiarise in research work.
They forget that if anyone is once scarred with plagiarism allegations,
personal and professional reputation can be ruined for a long time to come or
sometimes, forever. For instance, the infamous exposure of the fossil fraud
perpetrated by a geologist of Panjab University, Chandigarh in 1989 is still
there in the public memory which not only shook the trust of the Indian people
in the credibility of research in this premier academic institution but also
tarnished the scientific prestige of the country before the international
scientific community. It was one of the most serious frauds in scientific
research.[3] The ill-effects of falsified data and plagiarism
are far-reaching and no institution is immune from this problem. It must be
noted that neither ignorance nor stature excuses a person from the ethical and
legal ramifications of committing plagiarism.
Causes of Plagiarism:
The causes of committing plagiarism can be multiple.
They can differ from one place to another to some extent but broadly most of
them are common everywhere. The Middle Georgia
State University site displays a comprehensive Plagiarism Prevention Guide for its students and faculty members.
Some of the causes[4]
of plagiarism are given below:
·
Not properly
understanding what constitutes plagiarism.
·
Unmindful of crucial importance of ethical academic behaviour.
·
Taking a shortcut to get a job.
·
Poor time management.
·
Pressure to ‘publish or perish’ in jobs.
·
Family pressures.
·
The commodification of knowledge and education where
education is not perceived as a learning experience.
·
Lack of research skills
·
Lack of adequate knowledge of proper citation techniques.
·
Laziness, indifference, casual approach.
·
Misconceptions about online information, intellectual property, copyright.
·
In Indian context, weak command over language is also a big
cause for plagiarism.
Anti-plagiarism Policies of Universities:
Various universities have taken steps to enhance the
quality of the research conducted and combat plagiarism. ‘India has 740 universities
and university level institutions (2014-15) of which 281 (39.47%) have made
MOUs (as on 20th May, 2016) with INFLIBNET (Shodhganga e-theses of
Indian Universities); majority of them have revised ordinances, determined
specific procedure for the award of doctoral degree in compliance with UGC
Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of Ph. D. Regulations, 2009 in which
main concern is to improve the originality of theses by imposing different
measures for award of doctoral research in India.[5]
The focus here is limited to the anti-plagiarism policies
of two universities of Northern India only:
- Panjab
University, Chandigarh (PU)
2.
Punjabi University, Patiala (PUP)
The
websites of both the universities clearly display their policies regarding plagiarism
in research work. The following important points[6] have
been taken from the website of PUP with inputs from the writer’s experience
being a member of the Committee for formulating
Anti-Plagiarism
Policy of PUP. The website of PU was also carefully searched for PU’s policy[7] in
this area.
Purpose of Plagiarism Policy of Both Universities:
- To provide
a definition of plagiarism and the procedures adopted by the University
for detection of plagiarism.
- To deter
faculty, staff and students from plagiarism
- To pursue
various activities like awareness campaign.
- To
implement preventive mechanism
- To deal
with policy transgressors.
Scope:
In PUP, it applies to dissertations/thesis/project
reports submitted by students of Ph.D., M.Phil., M.Tech., Master Programmes
before presenting the pre-submission seminar and final submission.
The faculty, staff and students are also encouraged to
screen all the research papers they prepare to communicate to national and
international journals and research proposals/ reports to different agencies.
In PU, Chandigarh, it is applicable to all faculty
members and researchers across all disciplines.
Definition of Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is defined as the passing off of another
person's work as if it were one's own, by claiming credit for something that
was actually done by someone else. Plagiarism is an act of fraud committed knowingly or
unknowingly by stealing someone else’s work, idea (both scientific and literary
work) and/or published materials. The act of plagiarism can be manifested in
the form of publishing someone else’s work, audio and video broadcasting, or
circulation of copied words and images, ideas and opinions, discoveries,
artwork and music, recordings or computer generated work.
It also includes tweaking of a portion or portions
from several sources so as to make it read as original work. It
is noteworthy that in some
instances, copying from one’s own work can be an act of plagiarism, if the
published material is copyright protected and was previously transferred to a
publication house.
Forms of Plagiarism:
Ø Copying and Pasting (copying
and pasting portions of text from online journal articles or websites without
proper citation)
Ø Downloading or buying
research papers (Downloading a free paper from a web site or paying to download
a paper and submitting it as your own work).
Ø Paraphrasing of another’s
work by simply changing a few words or altering the order of presentation
without clear identification, appropriate reference and acknowledgement.
Ø Copying or submitting
someone else's written or creative work (in the form of words, images, ideas,
opinions, graphics, formula,
discoveries, invention, artwork, design, music, recordings, choreography,
photographs, software, computer programs).
Ø Submitting a work/document
that had been submitted previously. Submitting a work that had been prepared by
falsification / fabrication of data.
Ø Submitting a collaborative
work without obtaining consent from the concerned collaborator.
Ø Submitting a cross
language content translation and use without reference to original work.
Ø Using work of a third party
(for a fee/free) and represented by a student as his or her own work (Ghost
writing).
Ø Indulging in acts of
collusion and purloining.
And…
Ø there are instances when the
sources are cited but it is still considered plagiarized. e.g.
a)
The writer mentions an author's name for a source, but
neglects to include specific information on the location of the material referenced.(forgotten
footnote).
b)
The writer provides inaccurate information regarding the
sources, making it impossible to find them.
c)
The writer properly cites a source, but neglects to put in
quotation marks, text that has been copied word-for-word, or closes to it.
d)
He writer properly cites all sources, paraphrasing and using
quotations appropriately. The catch? The
document contains almost no original
work!
Methods of Plagiarism detection:
Common methods of detection of plagiarism are:
1.
A portion of work or whole of it is found belonging to
another author and a formal complaint is received about it.
2.
A sudden change is found in the style of writing of a text
inconsistent with the style used in the entire text- reported by examiner / evaluator.
3.
Under Software based detection a soft copy of the work is
uploaded in plagiarism detection software. The common material content is found
in submitted work and the original work in the database.
Use of Anti-Plagiarism Software:
Practice of anti-plagiarism tool for similarity
checking in Indian university theses has been initiated with initiative taken
by INFLIBNET centre on behalf of University Grants Commission (an apex body of
higher education, Government of India). Many universities have been provided
free anti-plagiarism tools on trial basis for specific period.[8] There
are many plagiarism detection sites on internet which can be used by paying a
fee also. Two universities under focus here -PU and PUP - use Tirnitin &
Urkund software respectively.
Procedure adopted in PUP & PU:
Requirement:
It
is the responsibility of the student to ensure that the dissertation/thesis is
free of plagiarism. The supervisors are required to sit with their
students and run the thesis or project report through plagiarism detection
software in order to provide guidance on any revisions that may be required as
a result of this process.
Compliance Statements:
Ø All students are required to
submit a signed statement that they are aware of the plagiarism policy of the
University and no part of their work be it assignment, term paper, project
report, thesis or dissertation etc is not copied in any form and it is their
own creation.
Ø Candidate shall submit the
report generated on the plagiarism checking software of his draft thesis along
with a soft copy of the draft thesis for the consideration of Departmental
Research Committee, signed by the Supervisor. [9]
Originality
Check:
The report generated by the
software upon submission of a thesis/dissertation for screening, only displays
what percentage of submitted text is similar to or matching with the
information sources included in the database. A submitted text having an
overall similarity index of more
than the prescribed limit will be seriously considered.
Ø
The prescribed permissible limit is not exceeding 20% in area
of sciences basic as well as applied and technology and 30% in Humanities and
Social Sciences, Law, Management and Education in PUP.
Ø
Turnitin quantifies the similarity in percentage show green
limit up to 24% , yellow to brown 25% to 74% and red for 75% to 100% from among
the widespread databases connected.
However, it is to be noted
that the matching text may not always be plagiarized. A high matching
percentage does not automatically mean that plagiarism has occurred and on the
other hand, a low percentage does not mean that it has not occurred. Therefore,
the software generated report cannot be taken for granted and in some cases, human
judgment is finally needed to determine whether the matching text is
plagiarized. This can be done by forming a committee.
Guidelines for Preventing
Plagiarism:
In order to prevent faculty
members, research scholars and students from indulging in the malpractice of
plagiarism, some guidelines have been listed by PU and PUP as given below:
Guidelines on Dos
·
Educate the researchers or teachers about plagiarism and its
problems.
·
Only one’s original work should to be submitted.
·
Precise and accurate citation of other’s work.
·
Any downloaded information from internet to be appropriately
referenced.
·
Submitted material should not contain any artwork, picture
and graphics from someone else’s work.
Guidelines
on Don’ts
·
Direct or indirect copying.
·
Any act of translation without proper accreditation.
·
Paraphrasing others’ work.
·
Tweaking and piecing together work of others.
·
Resubmission of one’s own or someone else’s work.
·
Claim of a collaborative work without consent from the
concerned collaborators.
·
Ghost writing – i.e. writing a document(s) on some one’s
behalf.
After enlisting these
guidelines, it needs to be strongly emphasized that the most important thing is
to develop an academic culture of honesty and originality in the institutions.
Along with knowledge, education must develop such character which values
genuine work, integrity and love for truth. It is men and women with an
impeccable character and conduct who leave an everlasting positive mark in the
course of history of nations. An incident from the school days of Mahatma
Gandhi[10]
when he refused to cheat from his class-fellow’s copy during an inspection of
his school despite his teacher prompting him to do so, is an inspirational revelation
of the moral side of his character and it underlines the importance of being
upright and resisting temptation to copy.
Challenges Ahead
S. T. Kale[11]
rightly pointed out that the practice of using anti-plagiarism software to
screen doctoral theses and research work in Indian Universities is a recent
phenomenon. As compared to other countries of the world, India is in primary
stage of using anti-plagiarism tools.
There are many daunting challenges facing our country like world’s
mostly used anti-plagiarism software Turnitin
cannot screen a large number of Indian vernacular languages; a vast number of
theses prior to enforcement of UGC’s Minimum
Standards and Procedure for Award of Ph. D. Regulations, 2009 is only in print
form and not a part of any repository online; and numerous researchers are
untrained and unaware of what constitutes plagiarism.
Though
it will take time to cover most of our Indian languages as it is a colossal
task, yet it is heartening to find that steps have been initiated to screen
theses written in India’s vernacular languages. For instance, it is commendable
that in PUP, Unicode font is being used to type M. Phil./Ph. D. theses in
Punjabi language which enables them to be screened through anti-plagiarism
software. Secondly, the latest UGC’s Minimum Standards and Procedures for Award of M.
Phil./Ph. D. Regulations, 2016 makes it mandatory
that following the successful completion of the evaluation process and before
the announcement of the award of the M.Phil./Ph.D. degree(s), the Institution
concerned shall submit an electronic copy of the M.Phil. dissertation /Ph. D.
thesis to the INFLIBNET for hosting the same so as to make it accessible to all
Institutions/Colleges.[12] Thirdly, organisation of workshops and
seminars is being encouraged by various academic institutions and NAAC to
widely disseminate information among the teachers and research students about
the prevention of plagiarism.
It
can be observed that the rules, regulations and technology are being improved
and developed to meet the huge challenge of combating plagiarism. However, the
really overwhelming challenge is
to make the present generation of researchers understand that academic ethics
are imperative for genuine research and honesty is still the best policy!
Otherwise, adverse ripple effect of the malpractice of plagiarism is going to
be appallingly enormous for humankind to handle.
Conclusion:
In the ultimate analysis, it is a matter of
cultivating academic honesty and integrity in the academia and researchers. Plagiarism
in academic circles is a matter of serious contemplation because if
teachers, researchers and students choose to plagiarize, they defeat the very aim
of the education for which it was imparted. The software and technology
can only provide us with a tool to detect and check plagiarism; it is, first
and foremost, our moral responsibility to choose not to plagiarise in
research work and assure its authenticity, originality and quality.
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[1]
https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills/plagiarism?wssl=1,
accessed on 28th March, 2017.
[2]Marilyn
Kiefer and Joanna Haselhuhn, Plagiarism, PPT available at https://wwwslideshare..net/lib5152/plagiarism-ppt-teachers,
accessed
on 29th March, 2017 at 11 a.m.
[3] For details, see William K. Stevens, Scientist
Accused of Faking Findings, http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/23/us/scientist-accused-of-faking-findings.html, accessed on 20th
March, 2017.
[4] http://www.mga.edu/student-success-center/plagiarism/avoiding.aspx, accessed on 25th March, 2017.
[5] Surendra
Tryambakrao Kale (2016), Paper on “Plagiarism Detection of Doctoral Theses:
Current Indian Practices and Functionalities” available at https://etd2016.sciencesconf.org/93431/documen,
accessed on 28-03-2017 at 11.30 a.m.
[6] http://www.punjabiuniversity.ac.in/research/noticeinfo.php?noticeid=25, accessed on 25th
March, 2017 at 2 p.m.
[10] http://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-2/mahatma-gandhis-school-days, accessed on 30th
March, 2017 at 5 pm.
[12] http://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/4952604_UGC-(M.PHIL.-PH.D-DEGREES)-REGULATIONS,-2016.pdf, Section 13.1,
accessed on 8th April, 2017 at 1.45 pm.
