Plagiarism vs. New information technologies, between legal and ethical

Mariana TACU,
PhD in political science, senior lecturer
Department of Journalism and Communication Sciences,
USM

In a century where mass communication became instant, the role and the actual central position of the media in the virtual environment as compared to the social progresses dominate the dialogue of high officials. Surveys carried out in the field of media provide several perspectives on the political, economic, social and cultural life, the manner and the circumstances they may change or adapt to the standards of the information society. Such society imposes a new type of „media literacy” and a new type of „information literacy”. The most recent definitions related to the information literacy refer directly to the necessity to use information ethically and legally.

From the information literacy point of view, plagiarism and/or intellectual theft are a pluriform phenomenon referring to the system of communication actions carried out at different levels in different areas. In this respect, we need to mention the negative contribution of the new information technologies, which only led to an increase in cases of plagiarism and to the multiplication of its forms, which is now called online plagiarism. Preventing and combating plagiarism is one of the main targets of the information education in the process of acquiring information literacy.  Researchers from various fields identified several forms of (wilful or unwillful) plagiarism and established several classifications related to their classification, such as: qualified plagiarism, plagiarism committed by changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit, and plagiarism committed by failure to put a quotation in quotation marks. [1]

At the international level, literary, artistic and scientific works are protected by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which has the aim to protect and to promote intellectual property.  In the Republic of Moldova plagiarism can be approached from the legal and ethical perspective. The relevant national legal framework comprises: the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova; the Law on copywrite and related rights; the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova; the Code on science and innovation of the Republic of Moldova.

In the Republic of Moldova, as well as in other countries, plagiarism has become a mass phenomenon, due to the „World”, „Wide”, „Web”. The most affected are the academic and the artistic fields.  Some of the web free plagiarism detectors are: Chimpsky, The Plagiarism Checker, SeeSourcer, CitePlag, Plagium and CopyTracker. Both academic and artistic plagiarisms represent a form a fraud which opposes intellectual and professional ethics.

From the point of view of the professional ethics in mass media, we can refer to the journalist's deontology code from Republic of Moldova. According to the data published in the latest Activity report of the Press Council, during July 2012 – August 2013, 8 of the 43 examined complaints referred to plagiarism and the unauthorised retrieval of the editorial content [2].

Recent cases of plagiarism based on intellectual theft in its text form, which were covered by the international media and also drew the attention of the European Union were those of Pál Schmitt, ex president of Hungary, Karl-Theodor Zu Guttenberg, ex-Minister of Defence of Germany; Victor-Viorel Ponta, Prime Minister of Romania. One of the most relevant and latest example related to the intellectual theft at the level of ideas is the one involving Facebook, the social network, whose idea was implemented in different countries under different forms, such as StudiVZ – a social network in Germany (the representatives of Facebook accused the founders of this site of violation of intellectual property rights and requested that the site be closed).
 
The law, as well as deontology require that every reproduction, be it partial or total, be duly credited, so as to avoid violating the rights of the authors. Early ethical education in schools and high-schools can be a sure method of preventing intellectual theft in the academic environment and later, in the professional environment. Observing certain moral norms that involve ethical academic as well as professional standard is the first step in fighting plagiarism. The simplest techniques to avoid intellectual theft are: a) marking with quote marks the direct citations; b) rephrasing a paragraph from a text using your own words; c) summing up theories, ideas and opinions.
 
 
Bibliography:
Plagiarism 101. What is plagiarism? Available at:  http://www.plagiarism.org/ plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/ [Accessed: 04.11.2014] 
Consiliul de Presă. Documente & Rapoarte. Raport de activitate. (Press Council. Documents and reports. Activity report.) Available at:  http://consiliuldepresa.md/ro/acasa/documente-rapoarte.html [Accessed: 05.11.2014]
 

The article was published within the Advocacy Campaigns Aimed at Improving Transparency of Media Ownership, Access to Information and promotion of EU values  and integration project, implemented by the IJC, which is, in its turn, part of the Moldova Partnerships for Sustainable Civil Society project, implemented by FHI 360.
 
This article is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The content are the responsibility of author and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.