#makeITsafePH PLAGIARISM IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Globe’s #makeITsafePH campaign is a part of the telco's CyberPinoy cyber wellness program to educate the society about online threats and on proper online etiquette and for this 2018, the main issue is on plagiarism in the digital age.

Eight years ago, I rotated in one of the prestigious hospitals in the United States and I was looking for reference books. My mentor and the other residents said that they didn’t have that in the department. Confused, I asked, “What do you do then?”  He simply answered me, “We just Google it!”

Since I didn’t have internet access then, I had to go across through a huge lawn to the Library building across.

Too much has happened since then and the availability of the internet is widespread and there is ready access to gadgets for people of all ages and status in life. At that time, I was in awe when he said, “We just Google it!” but today, it is an everyday thing.

Thus, it is indeed timely to strongly support Globe Telecom’s #makeITsafePH campaign for cybersecurity and cyberwellness. One of the looming threats in the digital age is Plagiarism.

Wise students are happy students!  Regional Science High School Senior High with Sir Jeff Barrera (resource person) taken during the CMZ S.T.E.P.H. (Student Tour for Exposure to Professions in Healthcare) Program last 2017, the career advocacy program of CMZ.
RSHS IX students are exposed to proper research early in their school life and teaching and emphasizing to the students about Plagiarism is a very important part of their learning and their formation. (J. Barrera, 2018)

The scenario of the digital age is very fertile for plagiarism. But how is plagiarism manifested in the everyday life of the high school and college students?

Local setting

I asked some teachers and students who had been part of the career advocacy program of Ciudad Medical Zamboanga through S.T.E.P.H. (Student Tour for Exposure to Professions in Healthcare) and to the CMZ Senior High immersion program on some of their insights on plagiarism.

** The incidence of plagiarism ranges from "does exist" to alarming in Grade School and High School to rampant and a  grave reality in College and Post-graduate courses. Initially, the students do not even realize that "copy-paste" is dishonest.*

** This is ingrained in our culture and students don’t think it is wrong to lift the whole paragraph just because they cited authors. Students should cite the idea and not just "copy-paste"! (B. Macrohon, personal communication, October 4, 2018)

** Plagiarism may manifest as simple as a copied but not attributed quotation placed as a shoutout in Facebook and Twitter or a caption in Snapchat and Instagram. (M. Tarog, personal communication, October 4, 2018)

** This may also be seen as submitted reflections or journals for a class requirement but the student may feel that it is fine since these are freely available over the internet and it is for classroom use. (M. Tarog, personal communication, October 4, 2018)

** Some students may be lazy or stressed and plagiarize just to complete the number of pages of the term paper and some students want to test their teachers, if they feel their teachers are lazy to check these. (J. Barrera, personal communication, October 4, 2018)

** Grade 7 or 8 students are already exposed to research and intensified in Senior High and the teachers are already teaching students on the values to prevent plagiarism, the process of citing sources, naming authors, how to quote and how to summarize. For highly competitive schools, research papers are subject to evaluation by research committees and some college institutions have the programs to check for Plagiarism like Turnitin.*

** “Because of faster global connections, the more access given, the greater the possibility to plagiarize. But, the more they know, the more they can prevent plagiarism.” (J. Barrera, personal communication, October 4, 2018)

** Great responsibility of teachers in teaching and ingraining in the minds of students especially in High School, that plagiarism is dishonest.*

** One of the student achievers said that she is against Plagiarism since this diminishes the credibility of the study and the quality of work.

a. Now in College, she had to make case studies but was worried that she lacked the time to do these. Two of her classmates told her not too focus too much on that and just “copy-paste”, which shocked her at first, but that was consider the norm by the others.

b. Sometimes, it is not just laziness but also when the course requirements are loaded, students may resort to this.

c.  She recommends that teachers in authority should reach out to the students and continue to find ways to advocate and prevent plagiarism since will affect their of learning.

** Dr. B. Macrohon shared some tips on Plagiarism Alerts: (Personal communication, October 4, 2018)

a. Context and grammar of the paragraph are different from the rest of the paper, and interestingly, including font, therefore not completely edited.

b. Little nuances in the English language, for example, using Acetaminophen instead of Paracetamol.

c.  Asks  researcher for the abstract and full text of the Review of Literature as reference and some lazy students just lift the abstract.
Hopefully, the universities would have the anti-plagiarism programs.

** Dr. B. Macrohon shared some possible reasons for Plagiarism and recommendations: (Personal communication, October 4, 2018)

a. Some students are not fluent in writing in English

b. Some students don’t know about writing research

c.Possibly teachers have not emphasized that plagiarism is unethical and criminal.  

d. Some students are lazy and feel they can just get away with plagiarism since there are no definite penalties for this.

e. Proper education about research ethics is recommended as early as possible in the students’ learning

f.  Capacity building on the English language and research and on how to write better is also suggested

g. Stricter rules on plagiarism by institutions are also recommended.

** A college graduate also echoed the same observation that students may copy-paste because they have a hard time expressing in English, thus, capacity building for the English language, research and writing ethics should be emphasized as early as High School. 
~~~The research background of students in high school matters since many students in College are overwhelmed when Research class begin and have difficulty in writing the paper resorting to plagiarism.
~~~Stricter rules on plagiarism with sanctions by the school may be a deterrent for students to do so.*

** Plagiarism does not only include literary works but also photographs, thus, always credit sources of photographs taken from the internet. And also don't forget other media such as videos, audio and also what we use in our Power Point presentations.*

Global Front

In the more global front, we have seen stories that Presidents and presidential candidates of Nigeria, Mexico and Peru and even the US First Lady Melania Trump were charged with Plagiarism (Bailey, Jonathan, “The Top 10 Plagiarism Stories of 2016, February 27, 2017).

In the Philippines, we have our own high profile plagiarism cases like THE LIST: 5 most talked about plagiarism scandals in the Philippines (ABS-CBN August 20, 2012 updated May 10, 2017) and Copycat Nation: 10 High-Profile Plagiarism Cases in the Philippines (Spot.ph October 2, 2013) which names politicians, businessmen, public officials, supreme court justices and even a dean of the UP College of Law. Many times, the "ghost writer" or their speech writers take the flack.

These are depressing stories of plagiarism on the international and national scale which reminds us that plagiarism is a crime, and although, they were able to get away without being charged nor removed from office, these people have been subjected to excessive embarrassment (a great blow to a person of high status) and have lost their credibility, although, sometimes temporarily.

Thanks for your inputs and insights!  (Photo credits: M. Tarog FB and V. Morales FB)  

We do hope that PLAGIARISM would be recognized as an  important issue to be addressed as a society, as this is considered an internet-related crime to which the youth are  highly exposed to!

It is already a sad plight that plagiarism happens in the digital age due to "common knowledge", ignorance, laziness, difficulty in English and in writing, which hopefully could be corrected. We do hope it is NOT intentional and NOT a conscious effort to cheat!

As early as a high school and probably even in the elementary years, we hope our schools and the Department of Education and related concerned agencies would continue to address this problem of PLAGIARISM. 

It is in the hands of our dear teachers and mentors to etch in the minds and hearts of the youth, strong values of honesty and integrity and to emphasize that access to the tons of free data on our fingertips when we “just Google it”, does not give us the right to own that knowledge. 

Let us learn while we are young so as not to be subjected to shame when our time of responsibility comes in the future years.

Our insights are anecdotal and experiential and YOU may have your own first-hand observations or views which you would like to share on the comment section below! I AM EXCITED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR THOUGHTS, TOO!

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*Note: Shared insights thus no specific attribution

Credits to:

Personal communication, October 4-5, 2018

Dr. Chua-Macrohon, Bernadette FPPS, FPNA
Research Committee, 2004-2010 and 2016-present
Consultant, Zamboanga City Medical Center Department of Pediatrics
Teacher, Ateneo De Zamboanga University School of Medicine

Mr. Barrera, Jeff
Secondary School Teacher II
Regional Science High School IX Senior High
Ateneo De Zamboanga University High School Department 

Ms. Tarog, Mercy, LPT 
Senior High School Coordinator
Talon-Talon National High School Senior High 
University of Zamboanga School of Education, Arts and Sciences

Salih,Ira
Student
Ateneo De Zamboanga University Nursing Department 
Regional Science High School IX Senior High

Rojo, George Constantine
Graduate
Cebu Doctors' University Biology Department
Ateneo De Zamboanga University High School Department 

Morales, Vail Linn
Graduate
Western Mindanao State University