Beyond simple textual plagiarism: some probable issues and possible answers

Discussions of academic misconduct are often focused upon text and text based plagiarism. The complex issues that surround the origination, adoption, use or incorporation of creative materials are often implicitly, rather than explicitly, ignored. Myths concerning the acceptability and legality of the adoption of material from the web appear common. Circumstances that will not be helpful to students seeking conventional careers or prudent staff wishing to avoid accusations of academic misconduct. In extreme cases research work has been misrepresented and data fabricated or falsified. This degree of fraud, an intentionally outrageous category of academic misconduct, is not discussed here. However, it should be noted that not only may reputations be abused or unjustifiably enhanced but the scientific record becomes corrupted and the implications, when the research is applied, virtually un-imaginable. (Corbyn, 2009 and Lock, 1996) The conventional peer review process alone cannot prevent misconduct but detection software is now supporting this task. The presentation of discredited but published papers has become formalised within the scientific record and is now, usually, directly linked to the refuting materials (Fox, 1994; Porter, 1998 and 2010) This paper discusses some of the issues confronting virtually anybody creating presentations, publishing articles or teaching with materials containing images and other intellectual property. The paper seeks to provide a workable, systematic approach that respects pedagogical tradition and is adaptable to a wide range of scholarly contexts.