The idea of borrowing others’ work and taking credit for it, is nothing new. As long as language and expression in words have existed, the notion of plagiarism emerged as a direct byproduct. Derived from the Latin word plagiarius meaning “kidnapper,” the earliest usage of the term dates back to 80 AD by the Roman poet Martial. Evolution of mankind also meant the evolution of ideas and especially ideas about the so-called borrowing and eventually outright copying and stealing. One might find it amusing to read the history of accusations of plagiarism and various exposes. The list includes canonical personalities, all the way from Shakespeare to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Martin Luther King to George Harrison.
At a point in history, passing off someone else’s work as one’s own was not a difficult task. For instance, ghost-writing dates back to the ancient Roman empire. Over centuries, the idea of what constitutes plagiarism developed, and so did the ways of plagiarising. Using the same example, ghost-writing from the Roman period has matured into the modern day paper mills.
What exactly is plagiarism? Is it merely copying? Where do we draw the line between borrowing and stealing ideas? The history of academia, literature, and arts presents loads of revelations that makes answering these questions quite complicated. For instance, authors like T.S. Eliot have said that “good writers borrow, great writers steal.” This reflects in the sentiments of some young authors for whom it is less of plagiarising and more of ‘mixing.’ In research, we call this mixing, patchwork plagiarism.
The question of originality and borrowing is central to plagiarism. Borrowing someone else’s original work and presenting it as one’s original idea/work, is where the problem lies. The past few decades have seen instances of plagiarism increase to a great extent, and many say that the internet is to be blamed. The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) revolution meant the liberalization of information and creation of numerous online databases where knowledge was readily available. It also made the process of plagiarising more advanced and common. This can be observed more than ever now when everything depends and exists on the internet. Take, for example, the globally reputed University of California Berkeley (UCB). The UCB Centre for Student Conduct witnessed the reports of plagiarism and academic misconduct rising to 400% in this year’s fall semester. A recent report published in the Turnitin blog speaks about the newer trends of plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Artificial Intelligence (AI) bots that are used to rewrite or spin pieces of text with minor changes to make it look original is one such example of plagiarism that takes advantage of advancements in technology.
Over the years stricter norms have been put in place to tackle this problem. Universities, colleges, and research institutes are putting more efforts into educating students and scholars about plagiarism, ways of avoiding it, various techniques of paraphrasing appropriately and nuances of citing and referencing. Many have even started implicating a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism. Yet it continues to sweep into academia and the research world. Academic misconduct has taken a stronghold in countries across the globe. In Russia, a black market has emerged which deals in degrees and dissertations. China is another country which is seeing several retractions because of how deep plagiarism runs in the country. At the same time, countries like India present a contradicting image. Though institutions like UGC (University Grants Commission) are trying their best to tackle the situation, notorious journals giving way to academic dishonesty have managed to establish a strong base in the country.
The fear that what you are thinking has already been thought before becomes unavoidable when working on academic research. Knowledge goes beyond merely learning about facts and re-presenting them. It involves using your autonomous thinking to draw unique inferences from a piece of information and apply it.
Thus, though plagiarism is still a serious threat, one must not allow it to become a source of fear that manifests itself in the question “has it been done before?” It is important to produce originality in research while presenting past knowledge (what is already known) in a manner that promotes integrity. Here are some ways to avoid and prevent plagiarism:
Learning more about how plagiarism can occur: There are plentiful resources available online that describe plagiarism and its different types. These are mostly prepared by colleges and universities (example: University of Arizona Writing Centre). Websites such as plagiarism.org, sponsored by Turnitin, a plagiarism detection software, are highly resourceful with blog articles and video modules on understanding, preventing, teaching, checking and researching about plagiarism.
Practising the art of quoting, paraphrasing and citing: These are the most frequently used methods for avoiding plagiarism and presenting existing research and information. Understanding the difference between the three and mastering the skill of appropriately applying them is a must. Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) is a well-known resource website that provides information about how to and when to quote, paraphrase and cite in academic writing.
Stay updated with news related to Plagiarism across the world: Cases of plagiarism, occurring both within and outside the academia, are quite frequent. Reading about such incidents is important in becoming more sensitive towards the malpractice of plagiarism. Jonathan Bailey, a renowned plagiarism spokesperson and researcher, says that reading about real-life occurrences can be useful for students to go beyond the textbook definitions of plagiarism and its various types and also learn about its consequences.
Adopting the habit of using plagiarism detectors: To err is to be human and prevention is always better than cure. There are several plagiarism detection software available online. While companies like Turnitin provide premium services such as iThenticate, there are also websites which do a fairly accurate job for free.
As Satirist Tom Lehrer once sang:
“But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize
Only be sure always to call it please research”
Aakash Gurbani
