ETHICAL ISSUES

Earlier in this chapter we have explained that research involves building on the work of
others. When you summarize, add to, or challenge the work of others, there are two important
pitfalls that you have to beware of:
1. Purposely misrepresenting the work of other authors – that is, their viewpoints, ideas,
models, findings, conclusions, interpretations, and so on.
2. Plagiarism – the use of another ’ s original words, arguments, or ideas as though they
were your own, even if this is done in good faith, out of carelessness, or out of
ignorance.
Both purposely misrepresenting the work of others and plagiarism are considered to
be fraud. In today ’ s information age, copying and pasting information from online sources
into your own research paper has become very simple. This may create a temptation to copy
(significant) portions of text into your work. Your task is to resist this temptation. Plagiarism
is a type of fraud that is taken very seriously in the academic world, mainly because using the
work of others as if it were your own does not convey much respect for the efforts that other
people have put into their work. Two other reasons to take plagiarism very seriously are
provided by IJzermans and Van Schaaijk ( 2007 ). They point out that:
1. Plagiarism makes it is difficult for the reader to verify whether your claims about
other authors and sources are accurate.
2. You are participating in a scientific debate. You need to make your position in this
debate clear by designating the authors whose work you are building on or whose
ideas you are challenging.
There are many forms of plagiarism above and beyond copying and pasting text into
your own work. Box 4.3 provides an overview of common forms of plagiarism. This
overview may help you to avoid the pitfall of plagiarism.
Note that many universities use software such as Turnitin or Ephorus to detect
plagiarism. To avoid plagiarism you need to observe the rules for referencing sources,
detailed in the appendix of this chapter. You may also benefit from examining the plagiarism
guidelines of your own university or from checking out the integrity handbook of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the
following URL:http://web.mit.edu/ academicintegrity/handbook/handbook.pdf
BOX 4.3
COMMON FORMS OF PLAGIARISM
Sources not cited
1. “Th e Ghost Writer”
Th e writer turns in another ’ s work, word‐for‐word, as his or her own.
2. “Th e Photocopy”
Th e writer copies signifi cant portions of text straight from a single source, without
alteration.
3. “Th e Potluck Paper”
Th e writer tries to disguise plagiarism by copying from several diff erent sources, tweaking
the sentences to make them fi t together while retaining most of the original phrasing.
4. “Th e Poor Disguise”
Although the writer has retained the essential content of the source, he or she has altered the
paper ’ s appearance slightly by changing key words and phrases.
5. “Th e Labor of Laziness”
Th e writer takes the time to paraphrase most of the paper from other sources and make it all
fi together, instead of spending the same eff ort on original work.
6. “Th e Self‐Stealer”
Th e writer “borrows” generously from his or her previous work, violating policies
concerning the expectation of originality adopted by most academic institutions. Sources
cited (but still plagiarized)
1. “Th e Forgotten Footnote”
Th e writer mentions an author ’ s name for a source, but neglects to include specifi c
information on the location of the material referenced. Th is oft en masks other forms of
plagiarism by obscuring source locations.
2. “Th e Misinformer”
Th e writer provides inaccurate information regarding the sources, making it impossible to
find them.
3. “Th e Too‐Perfect Paraphrase”
Th e writer properly cites a source, but neglects to put in quotation marks text that has been
copied word‐for‐word, or close to it. Although attributing the basic ideas to the source, the
writer is falsely claiming original presentation and interpretation of the information.
4. “Th e Resourceful Citer”
Th e writer properly cites all sources, paraphrasing and using quotations appropriately. Th e
catch? Th e paper contains almost no original work! It is sometimes diffi cult to spot this
form of plagiarism because it looks like any other well‐researched document.
5. “Th e Perfect Crime”
Well, we all know it doesn ’ t exist. In this case, the writer properly quotes and cites sources
in some places, but goes on to paraphrase other arguments from those sources without
citation. Th is way, the writer tries to pass off the paraphrased material as his or her own
analysis of the cited material. Reprinted with permission from: What is Plagiarism? (n.d.),
retrieved June 22, 2011, from
http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/what_is_plagiarism.html

SUMMARY
● Learning objective 1: Discuss the functions of a literature review.
A literature review is the selection of available documents on a topic, which contain
information, ideas, data and evidence written from a particular standpoint to fulfill certain
aims or express certain views on the nature of the topic and how it is to be investigated, and
the effective evaluation of these documents in relation to the research being proposed. A
literature review ensures that the research effort is positioned relative to existing knowledge
and builds on this knowledge. A literature review has many other functions. Because the
research questions of a study serve as the starting point for the literature review, some of
these functions depend on the type of research questions the researcher develops.
● Learning objective 2: Write a literature review on any given topic, documenting the
references in the prescribed manner.
The first step of a literature review involves the identification of the materials that are
available on the topic of interest, and gaining access to these. Searching for literature in the
area of interest will provide a comprehensive bibliography on the subject. That is why the
researcher will have to carefully select relevant material. Some criteria for assessing the value
of materials are: the relevance of the issues that are addressed, the importance in terms of
citations, the year of publication, and overall quality. Documenting the literature review is
important to convince the reader that the researcher is knowledgeable about the problem area
and has done the preliminary homework that is necessary to conduct the research.
● Learning objective 3: Discuss the ethical issues of documenting the literature review.
When researchers document their literature review, there are two important pitfalls
that they have to beware of: (1) purposely misrepresenting the work of other authors; and (2)
plagiarism – the use of another’s original words, arguments, or ideas as though they were
your own, even if this is done in good faith, out of carelessness, or out of ignorance. Both
purposely misrepresenting the work of others and plagiarism are considered to be fraud. The
appendix to this chapter offers information on (1) online databases, (2) bibliographical
indexes, (3) the APA format for references, and (4) notes on referencing previous studies and
quoting original sources in the literature review section.