Plagiarism in research
Plagiarism in research
The ALLEA Code defines plagiarism as: using other people’s work or ideas without giving proper credit to the original source.
While the definition is quite simple, the practical implications are more complicated. The following are examples of actions that can be considered to be plagiarism (Examples adapted from Plagiarism.org – What is Plagiarism?):
- claiming someone else’s work as your own, such as by copying another person’s text (almost) literally, without indicating that the text is a quote and/or without an adequate reference;
- copying words or ideas from someone else without an adequate reference;
- copying an image, scheme, graph, figure, audio or video fragment without an adequate reference;
- repeating an experiment and failing to mention the original work;
- giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation;
- changing words, but copying the sentence structure of a source without an adequate reference;
- translating a text without an adequate reference;
- paraphrasing another person’s ideas without an adequate reference;
- copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, independently of whether you provide an adequate reference or not.
Cartoon by Patrick Hochstenbach under a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 license
Please note that the term ‘plagiarism’ is also used outside academia to refer to violations of ethics in fields such as journalism and the arts. The standards used in such fields may be different from those in academia.
Finally, plagiarism has a rather complex relationship to intellectual property rights. While plagiarism itself is not a crime, some forms of plagiarism may involve infringement of copyright or other legal infringements that could lead to prosecution. There are some (rare) cases in which academics have been prosecuted for plagiarism (f.e. India, Poland). See the discussion on PlagiarismToday for more information.
Contrary to the concept of plagiarism, which also applies when you copy another’s ideas, copyright protection does not apply to ideas. It only protects the original expression of ideas in the form of, for example, a text, a presentation, a figure, etc. In other words, copyright protects the way in which scientific content is put forward, not the scientific content itself. Copyright protection arises automatically upon the creation of an original work and applies for a period of 70 years following the death of the longest living author. If you copy content that is protected by copyright, you need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder, unless an exception applies. This is the case for certain education and research activities. This exception grants significant leeway in the context of academic research. However, the scope of copyright protection differs per country. It is therefore important to check which copyright law applies to your specific situation and act accordingly.
Impact
Plagiarism is an unacceptable academic practice is, as leads to the appropriation of somebody else’s work. Indeed, in essence, plagiarism may be conceptualized as the theft of another person’s ideas. This not only harms society, which is deceived, but also harms the original author, whose contribution is not duly recognized.
As with other forms of integrity violations, plagiarism undermines the credibility of academic research, and causes loss of valuable resources. It can also undermine trust and collegiality between researchers.
How to prevent plagiarism?
As a researcher, you can take several measures to prevent instances of plagiarism.
- In terms of text and/or data plagiarism, correct source references are in any case required. Moreover, in case of literal quotes, quotation marks must be used. Please refer to Module 3 on Citation and referencing for additional information in this context.
- If you want to reuse figures or slides of another researchers, it is advisable to include a specification such as ‘figure reproduced from’, ‘slide(s) courtesy of’, or ‘slide(s) received from’.
- In order to avoid ideas plagiarism by representing another’s ideas or theories as your own (e.g. as to manuscripts that you have come across as a reviewer), you should give proper acknowledgement to the relevant researcher(s) and mention the original work.
Who is involved?
Senior Researcher
Senior researchers may be implicated in plagiarism by copying others’ work themselves, or by failing to ensure that their students and colleagues do not plagiarise.
Junior Researcher - Phd student
It is important for junior researchers to understand and apply the relevant rules relating to plagiarism, and to understand the difference between legitimate and illegal uses of others’ work.
Journals - Publishers
Journal editors and peer reviewers are on the front line in identifying plagiarism.
Other Researchers
Other researchers have a moral responsibility to report plagiarism if they identify it.
Self-plagiarism
Is it acceptable to reuse one’s own work? This is referred to as ‘self-plagiarism’ and is a contentious area.
Researchers in some fields argue that some degree of self-plagiarism is unavoidable because they are developing nuanced variations of their own ideas. How could you plagiarize work of which you yourself are the original author?
The ALLEA Code defines plagiarism as using ‘other people’s work or ideas without giving proper credit to the original source’. In addition, it defines ‘self-plagiarism’ as ‘re-publishing substantive parts of one’s own earlier publications, including translations, without duly acknowledging or citing the original’ as an unacceptable practice.
Whether you use other people’s work or your own, it is necessary to give credit and include the proper references to the original publication.
There may, however, be a few situations where reuse of your own text without crediting the previous work are usually not seen as problematic. For example:
- small scale reuse of short passages of your own text in the introduction,
- theory development and/or
- descriptions of the method applied
On the other hand, extensive self-referencing may be seen as a negative practice as it artificially inflates the number of citations to your own work (KNAW Committee on Citation Practice, 2014).
It may seem like a challenge, but balance is key. Given the different angles, every case is different, so take the above considerations into account when writing a text. When in doubt, check the guidelines to authors of the journal you want to publish in.
Local collaborations
Accusations of plagiarism often occur in local collaborations where the researchers involved already have shared ideas. Keeping accurate records such as emails, notes, lab notebooks, etc. can help, as can organising regular seminars so that ideas can be shared and attributed clearly.
Interdisciplinary collaborations
Interdisciplinary research raises risks of accusations of plagiarism because of different practices for citation. More difficult cases arise when different disciplines have different practices for what is considered to be original work and if that work has to be published across different journals: original ideas may be presented in one publication for a journal in one of the disciplines involved, and the same ideas may need to be republished in a journal in the other discipline.
International collaborations
Cultural differences around plagiarism and higher education practices in general are quite well documented (Liu et al, 2010). International collaborations may therefore pose a problem for plagiarism: clear expectations and definitions need to be identified. In general, the practices of peer-reviewed journals will take precedence as the source of guidance to prevent plagiarism, since the research will not be publishable if such practices are not respected.
Some guidelines:
- 5 simple rules to avoid plagiarism. Ober, Simon, Elson (2012, Springer)
- Check your personal referencing style: what type of citer are you? (.pdf, University of Konstanz)
- Acceptable/Unacceptable:
Do you know what’s acceptable and what’s unacceptable? Video produced by the Office of Student Judicial Affairs, University of Alberta (Canada), and Townend Films.
