DAYSTAR UNIVERSITY

MA (CHILD DEVELOPMENT)

COURSE CODE:

GRW 611X

COURSE TITLE:

Graduate writing

NAME:

GEOFFREY GIKUNDA

REGISTRATION NUMBER: 11-1676

TASK:

Research Method For partial fulfillment of M.A Degree in Child

Development

Due date:

27/10/2011

LECTURER:

Mrs Kiambi

Table of contents

Table of contents............................................................................................................. 2
Introduction.................................................................................................................... 3
Definition...................................................................................................................... 3
Types of plagiarism.......................................................................................................... 4
Plagiarism and authorship.................................................................................................. 4
Penalty for plagiarism....................................................................................................... 5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 6
References..................................................................................................................... 8

Introduction
This paper looks at the ethical issues resulting from plagiarism. The following topics are
covered: definition, types of plagiarism, plagiarism and authorship, Penalty for plagiarism and a
conclusion is given
Definition
Plagiarism can be defined as any of the following:
The taking and using of ideas, passages, etc. from another's work, representing them as one's
own (Webster's, 1998)
The uncredited use (intentional or unintentional) of somebody else's words or ideas (OWL at
Purdue, 2008)
The act of claiming authorship for another's words or ideas (Carrie Russell, 2004)
Ethics is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as the science of morals; moral principles or
code.
professional ethics has been defined by giving of ones best to ensure that clients interests are
properly cared for, but in doing so the wider public interest is also recognized and respected.
Gotterbarn, Miller, and Impagliazzo (2006) outline how scholarly plagiarism can be committed
1. Intentional, exact copying of someone elses intellectual property despite knowing that
copying is inappropriate.
2. Mistaking someone elses legitimate intellectual property for common knowledge
3. Unintentionally forgetting to cite a work
4. Intentionally citing a work in a way that is misleading
5. Unintentionally citing a work in a way that is misleading

Types of plagiarism
From the point of view of the Northwestern University http://www.writing.northwestern.edu),
there are two types of plagiarism: deliberate and accidental. Deliberate plagiarism, the
Northwestern University website emphasizes, is cheating, pure and simple. Accidental
plagiarism, on the other hand, is a bit more complicated. There are two types of accidental
plagiarism. First, there is the paraphrase without any citation because the author simply forgot to
include the citation in an otherwise appropriate paraphrase of the original authors ideas. Second
there is the misplaced citation, where a source may have been quoted but the citation may be
inadvertently excluded.
Plagiarism and authorship
Kolin (2002) points out Ethical writing is clear, accurate, fair, and honest. It also conveys to
the reader that one strives for ethical conduct as well as ethical practice. The lecturer who used
his students research data to write a book commits not only scholarly plagiarism but also
economic theft.
The American Educational Research Association gives the following guidelines for authorship:
Authorship should be determined based on the following guidelines, which are not intended to
stifle collaboration, but rather to clarify the credit appropriately due for various contributions to
research.
1. All those, regardless of status, who have made substantive creative contribution to the
generation of an intellectual product are entitled to be listed as authors of that product.
2. First authorship and order of authorship should be the consequence of relative creative
leadership and creative contribution. Examples of creative contributions are: writing first
drafts or substantial portions; significant rewriting or substantive editing; and
contributing generative ideas or basic conceptual schemes or analytic categories,
collecting data which require significant interpretation or judgment, and interpreting data.
3. Clerical or mechanical contributions to an intellectual product are not grounds for
ascribing authorship. Examples of such technical contributions are: typing, routine data
collection or analysis, routine editing, and participation in staff meetings.
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4. Authorship and first authorship are not warranted by legal or contractual responsibility
for or authority over the project or process that generates an intellectual product. It is
improper to enter into contractual arrangements that preclude the proper assignment of
authorship.
5. Anyone listed as author must have given his/her consent to be so listed.
6. The work of those who have contributed to the production of an intellectual product in
ways short of these requirements for authorship should be appropriately acknowledged
within the product.
7. Acknowledgement of other work significantly relied on in the development of an
intellectual product is required. However, so long as such work is not plagiarized or
otherwise inappropriately used, such reliance is not ground for authorship or ownership.
8. It is improper to use positions of authority to appropriate the work of others or claim
credit for it. In hierarchical relationships, educational researchers should take care to
ensure that those in subordinate positions receive fair and appropriate authorship credit.
9. Theses and dissertations are special cases in which authorship is not determined strictly
by the criteria elaborated in these standards.
10. Authorship in the publication of work arising from theses and dissertations is determined
by creative intellectual contributions as in other cases.
11. Authors should disclose the publication history of articles they submit for publication;
that is, if the present article is substantially similar in content and form to one previously
published, that fact should be noted and the place of publication cited.
Penalty for plagiarism
According to the Canadian Philosophical Association, to commit an act of plagiarism is to
commit a grave ethical offence, and this offence must receive an appropriate response. Thus if it
has been proven that one has plagiarized research he or she is expected to clarify the situation
and if the clarification does not certify the displinary board, then ones work is disqualified.
In addition the following actions can be taken by the association
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1. Issue a formal letter of reprimand warning the author that further acts of plagiarism may
result either in his or her being censored from submitting work to the Associations
journal and academic conferences or being expelled from the Association, for a period of
time from one to 5 years
2. Decide that no further submissions to Dialogue or to any CPA-sponsored conference
from the philosopher will be accepted, for a period of time from one to 5 years; or,
3. Notify the philosophers Dean or academic supervisor of the Boards finding and the
evidence which led the board to its conclusion.
These actions I think can be adopted by other academic and professional institutions to combact
plagiarism among professionals
Conclusion
Plagiarism is a very serious offence that has many negative effects. For one in aouthority to
misuse the authority is also very unprofessional. It is also unprofessional for a student to engage
in plagiarism. In this question a lecturer used students to conduct research and did not
acknowledge or pay them, thus plagiarism.
By failing to pay or acknowledge his students the lecturer thus flaunted several of the guidelines
given by the Canadian Philosophical Association.
He misused his position as an instructor for his own economic gains by using research from
students to publish a book thus could be charged with theft which is unethical.
He behaved unprofessionally by presenting academic research as his own by going against the
professions code of ethics
He misused the trust that his students had in him and may have reduced the students trust in their
lecturers. This may have caused doubts on the credibility of the lecturer to be teaching them
To himself, Plagiarism stifles originality and creativity thus he did a greate disservice to himself
stealing his students work
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Since t the lecturer has plagiarized, this causes damages to him by reducing the benefits of
producing a good publication since nobody will take his work seriously again.
It also impacts negatively on the profession since if they dont act on him by lowering public
opinion on it such that in future publications by members of the profession may be viewed with
skepticism.
Hoover (2006) says that the damage to a reputation has long been viewed as the main and most
effective deterrent against plagiarism among professionals.

References
1. "Plagiarism.Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary 888 (10th ed). 1998, Springfield,
MA: Merriam-Webster
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2. American Educational Research Association (1992). Ethical standards of the American

Educational Research Association. Washington, DC: available at:
http://www.aera.net/uploadedFiles/About_AERA/Ethical_Standards/EthicalStandards.pdf
3. Canadian Philosophical Association. The CPAs policy on plagiarism available
athttp://www.acpcpa.ca/documents/policy_on_plagiarism.pdf?
PHPSESSID=f34olimjnpf5mjfl844qrlovi5
4. Ethics (n.d.). In Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved from http://dictionary.oed.com
5. Gotterbarn,D. Miller, K. and Impagliazzo, J. (2006)"Plagiarism and scholarly
publications: An ethical analysis," in 36th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education
Conference. San Diego, CA USA. Available at: http://fieconference.org/fie2006/papers/1139.pdf
6. Hoover, G. A. (2006). A Game-Theoretic Model of Plagiarism. Atlantic Economic
Journal, 34(4), 449-454. doi:10.1007/s11293-006-9029-7
7. Kolin, F. C. (2002). Successful Writing at Work, 6th Edition. Houghton Mifflin
8. Mason, J. (2008). Delivering improvements in ethical behaviour in the construction
industry through the implementation of contractual good faith provisions. In: Fewings, P.,
ed. Ethics for the Built Environment. Taylor and Francis
9. OWL at Purdue. Avoiding Plagiarism. Retrieved from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource
10. Russell, C. (2004). Complete Copyright: an Everyday Guide for Librarians. Chicago:
American Library Association
11. The Northwestern University website (http://www.writing.northwestern.edu)