Forms of Plagiarism

At the start of writing a research article we should keep in mind the points mentioned in this lecture so that our product article should be plagiarism free.

Different forms of Plagiarism are like, Copy the words of another without the citing the source, paraphrase the words of another without citing the source, include facts that are not common knowledge without citing the source. Use another person’s ideas or theories without giving that person credit etc. The positive reasons for not plagiarizing is to feel your own creativity and sense of attainment and satisfaction. Giving proper credit to the actual creator or inventor of the idea, product or any kind of work is another unavoidable positive reason for not doing plagiarism. Students may discuss different ideas related to a single assignments but they should write in their own words without copying to avoid plagiarism.

Paraphrasing means to include the information from some source in your document or paper by rephrasing ideas in your own words. But this would be considered as plagiarism if you don’t properly cite the source of the ideas. If you properly cite the source paraphrasing becomes a way to avoid plagiarism.

Always put quotation marks around text that you have added without any change in your document any from another source, and cite its source properly.

Difference between References and Bibliography is also explained here. Reference list is a list of the sources you have cited in your paper or document. It comes at the end of technical documents. Bibliography is the list of all sources that the author consulted, even if they are not mentioned in the text and can be useful to the readers.

Turnitin is a good tool for detecting plagiarism.

Further in this lecture there is a discussion on ethics, importance of integrity and difference between morals, ethics and laws.

What is ethics?

Every society forms a set of rules that establishes the boundaries of generally accepted behavior. These rules are often expressed in statements about how people should behave, and the individual rules fit together to form the moral code by which a society lives. Unfortunately, the different rules often have contradictions, and people are sometimes uncertain about which rule to follow. For instance, if you witness a friend copy someone else’s answers while taking an exam, you might be caught in a conflict between loyalty to your friend and the value of telling the truth. Sometimes the rules do not seem to cover new situations, and an individual must determine how to apply existing rules or develop new ones. You may strongly support personal privacy, but do you think an organization should be prohibited from monitoring employees’ use of its email and Internet services? The term morality refers to social conventions about right and wrong that are so widely shared that they become the basis for an established consensus. However, individual views of what behavior is moral may vary by age, cultural group, ethnic background, religion, life experiences, education, and gender. There is widespread agreement on the immorality of murder, theft, and arson, but other behaviors that are accepted in one culture might be unacceptable in another. Even within the same society, people can have strong disagreements over important moral issues. In the United States, for example, issues such as abortion, stem cell research, the death penalty, and gun control are continuously debated, and people on both sides of these debates feel that their arguments are on solid moral ground.

Definition of Ethics

Ethics is a set of beliefs about right and wrong behavior within a society. Ethical behavior conforms to generally accepted norms—many of which are almost universal. However, although nearly everyone would agree that certain behaviors—such as lying and cheating—are unethical, opinions about what constitutes ethical behavior can vary dramatically. For example, attitudes toward software piracy—a form of copyright infringement that involves making copies of software or enabling others to access software to which they are not entitled—range from strong opposition to acceptance of the practice as a standard approach to conducting business.

As children grow, they learn complicated tasks—such as walking, talking, swimming, riding a bike, and writing the alphabet—that they perform out of habit for the rest of their lives. People also develop habits that make it easier for them to choose between what society considers good or bad. A virtue is a habit that inclines people to do what is acceptable, and a vice is a habit of unacceptable behavior. Fairness, generosity, and loyalty are examples of virtues, while vanity, greed, envy, and anger are considered vices. People’s virtues and vices help define their personal value system—the complex scheme of moral values by which they live.

The Importance of Integrity

A person who acts with integrity acts in accordance with a personal code of principles. One approach to acting with integrity—one of the cornerstones of ethical behavior—is to extend to all people the same respect and consideration that you expect to receive from others. Unfortunately, consistency can be difficult to achieve, particularly when you are in a situation that conflicts with your moral standards. For example, you might believe it is important to do as your employer requests while also believing that you should be fairly compensated for your work. Thus, if your employer insists that, due to budget constraints, you not report the overtime hours that you have worked, a moral conflict arises. You can do as your employer requests or you can insist on being fairly compensated, but you cannot do both. In this situation, you may be forced to compromise one of your principles and act with an apparent lack of integrity.

The Difference between Morals, Ethics, and Laws

Morals are one’s personal beliefs about right and wrong, while the term ethics describes standards or codes of behavior expected of an individual by a group (nation, organization, profession) to which an individual belongs. For example, the ethics of the law profession demand that defense attorneys defend an accused client to the best of their ability, even if they know that the client is guilty of the most heinous and morally objectionable crime one could imagine. Law is a system of rules that tells us what we can and cannot do. Laws are enforced by a set of institutions (the police, courts, law-making bodies). Legal acts are acts that conform to the law. Moral acts conform to what an individual believes to be the right thing to do. Laws can proclaim an act as legal, although many people may consider the act immoral—for example, abortion. The remainder of this chapter provides an introduction to ethics in the business world. It discusses the importance of ethics in business, outlines what businesses can do to improve their ethics, provides advice on creating an ethical work environment, and suggests a model for ethical decision making. The chapter concludes with a discussion of ethics as it relates to information technology (IT).

Ethics in the business world

Ethics has risen to the top of the business agenda because the risks associated with inappropriate behavior have increased, both in their likelihood and in their potential negative impact. In the past decade, we have watched the collapse and/or bailout of financial institutions such as Bank of America, CitiGroup, Countrywide Financial, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, and American International Group (AIG) due to unwise and/or unethical decision making regarding the approval of mortgages, loans, and lines of credit to unqualified individuals and organizations. We have also witnessed numerous corporate officers and senior managers sentenced to prison terms for their unethical behavior, including former investment broker Bernard Madoff, who bilked his clients out of an estimated $65 billion. Clearly, unethical behavior has led to serious negative consequences that have had a major global impact. Several trends have increased the likelihood of unethical behavior. First, for many organizations, greater globalization has created a much more complex work environment that spans diverse cultures and societies, making it more difficult to apply principles and codes of ethics consistently. For example, numerous U.S. companies have moved operations to developing countries, where employees work in conditions that would not be acceptable in most developed parts of the world. Second, in today’s difficult and uncertain economic climate, organizations are extremely challenged to maintain revenue and profits. Some organizations are sorely tempted to resort to unethical behavior to maintain profits. For example, the chairman of the India-based outsourcing firm Satyam Computer Services admitted he had overstated the company’s assets by more than $1 billion. The revelation represented India’s largest ever corporate scandal and caused the government to step in to protect the jobs of the company’s 53,000 employees. Employees, shareholders, and regulatory agencies are increasingly sensitive to violations of accounting standards, failures to disclose substantial changes in business conditions, nonconformance with required health and safety practices, and production of unsafe or substandard products. Such heightened vigilance raises the risk of financial loss for businesses that do not foster ethical practices or that run afoul of required standards. There is also a risk of criminal and civil lawsuits resulting in fines and/or incarceration for individuals.

Why Fostering Good Business Ethics Is Important Organizations have at least five good reasons for pursuing CSR goals and for promoting a work environment in which employees are encouraged to act ethically when making business decisions:

• Gaining the goodwill of the community
• Creating an organization that operates consistently
• Fostering good business practices
• Protecting the organization and its employees from legal action
• Avoiding unfavorable publicity

Gaining the Goodwill of the Community

Although organizations exist primarily to earn profits or provide services to customers, they also have some fundamental responsibilities to society. As discussed in the previous section, companies often declare these responsibilities in specific CSR goals. Companies may also issue a formal statement of their company’s values, principles, or beliefs. See Figure 1-1 for an example of a statement of values.

All successful organizations, including technology firms, recognize that they must attract and maintain loyal customers. Philanthropy is one way in which an organization can demonstrate its values in action and make a positive connection with its stakeholders. (A stakeholder is someone who stands to gain or lose, depending on how a situation is resolved.) As a result, many organizations initiate or support socially responsible activities, which may include making contributions to charitable organizations and nonprofit institutions, providing benefits for employees in excess of any legal requirements, and devoting organizational resources to initiatives that are more socially desirable than profitable. The goodwill that CSR activities generate can make it easier for corporations to conduct their business. For example, a company known for treating its employees well will find it easier to compete for the best job candidates. On the other hand, companies viewed as harmful to their community may suffer a disadvantage. For example, a corporation that pollutes the environment may find that adverse publicity reduces sales, impedes relationships with some business partners, and attracts unwanted government attention.

Creating an Organization That Operates Consistently

Organizations develop and abide by values to create an organizational culture and to define a consistent approach for dealing with the needs of their stakeholders— shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, and the community. Such consistency ensures that employees know what is expected of them and can employ the organization’s values to help them in their decision making. Consistency also means that shareholders, customers, suppliers, and the community know what they can expect of the organization— that it will behave in the future much as it has in the past. It is especially important for multinational or global organizations to present a consistent face to their shareholders, customers, and suppliers no matter where those stakeholders live or operate their business. Although each company’s value system is different, many share the following values: • Operate with honesty and integrity, staying true to organizational principles.

• Operate according to standards of ethical conduct, in words and action.
• Treat colleagues, customers, and consumers with respect.
• Strive to be the best at what matters most to the organization.
• Value diversity.
• Make decisions based on facts and principles.

Reference

Ethics in Information Technology, Reynolds, G., 6^th Edition (2018), Cengage Course Technology.

Gao, Y. (2012). Ethics for the Information Age by Michael J. Quinn. World Libraries, 20(1).