Plagiarism needs more attention (2)

Plagiarism needs more attention (2)

By Ignas Kleden

This is the second of two articles exploring academic life in
Indonesia vis a vis the recent case of alleged plagiarism at a
respected university.

JAKARTA (JP): The question looming large in academic circles
is how to treat the subculture of academia given the society in
which it exists.

The old belief of philosophical rationalism -- wherever modern
science comes in, the mythological and metaphysical world views
will disappear -- no longer holds true. Despite the rapid
development of the sciences in many non-western countries, old
world views persist.

Is it possible to treat older cultural values more selectively
in order to give more room to the development of an academic
subculture?

How can we push for more openness, especially in the academic
world, if we are burdened with the traditional obligation to be
polite and quiet towards our seniors?

How can we encourage criticism if standing behind our
arguments is treated as idle vanity or unnecessary provocation?

These questions need to be considered if we are to find a
solution or some sort of modus vivendi beneficial to academic
development.

The choice is limited: either we give preference to the
academic subculture by means of modifying some traditional
values, or we give preference to our traditional values by means
of compromising basic academic values.

In the first case, we'll have to suffer from some feelings of
cultural insecurity. However, we will build our academia on a
basis which is comparable with and acceptable by international
standards. In the second case, we retain our cultural security
while sacrificing some basic academic values, ending in a sort of
scientific syncretism that may be distant from international
standards.

In our case, the standard-setting which pertains to the
writing of a thesis can be discerned in two related facts. First,
the thesis in Yogyakarta was written for a master's degree,
whereas that in Surabaya was written at the undergraduate level.
Second, the work written at Gadjah Mada University received an A
grade, whereas the undergraduate thesis in Surabaya received a C.

From these two facts, the whole standard-setting of writing
and approving a thesis is brought into bold relief.

Can we assume that the academic community in Indonesia has
criteria to judge the quality of a work submitted? This question
should be discussed seriously regardless of whether or not the
plagiarism did or did not take place.

Needless to say, the important role of structural as well
cultural factors cannot cancel or nullify the individual
responsibility and personal integrity of a student. A thesis is
written proof that a student is able to work independently and
has intellectual autonomy.

Of course, there are different levels of autonomy, the highest
of which is attained if someone is able to submit a Ph. D thesis
or a thesis at the same level. Every piece of academic work is
supposed to be treated as the result of one's own capacity both
in terms of intellectual maturation and academic education as
well as personal integrity and moral responsibility.

As a result, plagiarism is seen as a betrayal of all the
virtues mentioned above.

First of all, not only does it not recognize or appreciate the
work of other academics, but it denies that the work plagiarized
has been written at all. It is a violation of intellectual
property rights par excellence.

Second, it gives recognition to someone who does not deserve
it.

Third, with regard to the plagiarist, it is a blatant
violation of personal integrity and moral responsibility.

It must be made clear to a student how an academic work should
be written. It goes without saying that in science, work builds
on works, books on books and knowledge on knowledge. Nobody
starts from zero. However, respect must be paid to academic
conventions, which are established to differentiate between the
materials one makes use of, and those one claims to discover.

How to make a citation, how to refer to a source, or how to
paraphrase an important sentence of another author as well how to
acknowledge all the substantial contributions one has received
from other colleagues are relatively well regulated in academic
conventions.

If those conventions are not familiar to a student, he might
plagiarize unwittingly, for example, by forgetting to mention the
source and the author quoted.

There are at least two sorts of plagiarism: that which is
committed due to ignorance of academic conventions, and that
committed in spite of academic conventions. In theological terms,
the former case leads to a sin of omission, and the latter to a
sin of commission.

However, the statement given so far by the graduate student in
Yogyakarta needs some comment. He has stated that, first, he had
no idea of the work written previously in Surabaya and never read
it before embarking upon his own thesis. Second, he felt so sorry
about the response of his colleague in Surabaya who brought the
case to the public, without trying to first settle it on a
personal basis.

We are obliged to leave the first thing to the committee which
has been convened to scrutinize the case. However, the second
point reflects a misleading perception of what plagiarism is all
about.

Plagiarism is not a matter of a personal relationship between
two students; rather, it is a matter which involves the whole
academic community and thus a public affair. Assuming that the
two students have discussed the case in a personal atmosphere, it
will not justify the handling of the case on a merely personal
basis.

If the case is covered up and not brought to the public, it
will be only more detrimental to the whole academic community
because it transgresses the two principles formulated by Robert
Merton, an American sociologist, namely the principle of academic
community and the principle of organized skepticism.

With regard to the former principle, both achievements and
failures should be made accessible to an academic community. With
regard to the second principle, we should enable the whole
academic community to look into the case in order to find out how
far academic conventions are obeyed or violated, and the extent
to which basic ethical values are known and followed.

Public intervention is needed in order to show that Indonesian
academia treats ethical principles of academia seriously. There
might be a long way to go before Indonesian universities can
become centers of excellence, but a few wrong measures could turn
our beloved academia into a center of bad jokes.

The writer is a sociologist now working at the SPES Foundation
Research Center.