Two Perspectives of Plagiarism: An Evaluation Abstract: A very sensible issue that involves not only students but as well

as professionals. Plagiarism is perceived differently. On the side of the victim, the same is considered unjust. Presented herein are facts regarding the foregoing issue. Keywords: legal, ethical, plagiarism, copyright, publish, intellectual honesty Discussion: With the vast growth of information and communication technology (ICT), accessing data and information made easy. From executives down to students, retrieving information as well as searching answers to a number of questions will take only a matter of seconds through utilization of the internet. However, there is an issue of using such information. That is, whether or not the source of the same properly acknowledged. It seems an ethical standard to acknowledge the source (whether a person or an organization) otherwise, the work of the foregoing is plagiarized. Plagiarism became more severe when information became more accessible (i.e. through internet). First, the nature of plagiarism is ethical in nature rather than a legal standard and restricted only in the academe (Lands, 1999). Consequently, the Supreme Court of the Philippines ruled over plagiarism [A.M. No. 10-7-17-SC] with certain conditions. Second, in the academic setting, Sampson (2008) reports that there were two students expelled due to the plagiarism offense in the University of Virginia. The conflict now arises whether it is harsh to expel a person due to an offense not sanctioned by any competent court of law. Prior to the answer to this issue, the first issue was clearly answered that plagiarism is an ethical issue while the court of law handles legal issue. The second question is also clearly answered that even professional are bounded by both legal and ethical norms. Finally, it is recommended to observed the two aforementioned standards. However, the topic in this paper is focused in plagiarism rather than jurisprudence. A number of ethical standards regarding plagiarism is enforced not only by academic community by as well as professional organizations. At some extent, ethical standards seem more lenient that it legal counterpart. Conversely, intellectual honesty (the ethical norm) gives researchers or students the freedom of selecting information. It is the same case with legal standard. If the information is a general knowledge it can be copied and reproduced freely. However, in view of ethical standard, acknowledging the source is advised.

References: A.M. No. 10-7-17-SC IN THE MATTER OF THE CHARGES OF PLAGIARISM, ETC., AGAINST ASSOCIATE JUSTICE MARIANO C. DEL CASTILLO. URL: http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2011/february2011/10-7-17-SC.htm Date Retrieved: August 22, 2012 Green, Stuart P. (2002). "Plagiarism, Norms, and the Limits of Theft Law: Some Observations on the Use of Criminal Sanctions in Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights". Hastings Law Journal 54 (1). SSRN 315562 Lands, Robert (1999) Plagiarism is no Crime published by The Association of Illustrators (AOI), December 1999 Zinie Chen Sampson (August 11, 2008). "Students expelled from U.Va. shipboard program for plagiarism". HamptonRoads.com. Retrieved August 22, 2012.