University of the Philippines
College of Education
Educational Technology Department
EDUC190 – Computers in Education
Plagiarism and Copyrights
Ferdinand B. Pitagan, PhD
Professor of 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 Plagiarism
Sources 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/
Plagiarism
Burke’s survey with 742 Faculty, USA
86% had suspected plagiarism;
65% had found it in the classroom
A UK survey of 943 sophomores
Reasons 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
Rinnert 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/
Group Activity: Committee on
Promoting Academic Integrity
The President-elect asks YOUR Committee….
To outline and review existing Philippine Copyright Laws;
To make suggestions for revision/elaboration
Plagiarism Prevention
1. Systematic Training
2. Institutional Policies
– Explain What "Plagiarism" Means;
What's Wrong About Plagiarism
– Make the Consequences Clear
– Clear Expectations
– How to cite properly