Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
ideas or making your arguments, you are free to draw upon other
people's ideas—but academic honesty also means that you need to
acknowledge those ideas.
As an extreme example, suppose you were asked to write a pa
per on whether or not computers could think—the subject of
Chapter 16 in this topic. From the standpoint of academic honesty,
there would be nothing wrong with your simply copying the last
chapter of this topic, provided you gave a full citation indicating the
material was copied. In this case, you would not be dishonest, be
cause you indicated the source of the material; you were open and
honest about using the chapter. Of course, the instructor might de
cide that your copying did not satisfy the assignment, and you might
receive a low grade for that reason. However, you could not be
cited as being dishonest—you acknowledged the material you used.
On the other hand, if you copied Chapter 16 without indicating
the source, then you could not claim you were protected due to aca
demic freedom. Your work was not based on your own inquiry, you
did not conduct your research according to your beliefs, and you
did not follow an open and responsible methodology. Your work
was sloppy and irresponsible; academic freedom does not mean you
can do anything you want.
Relating this example to material found on the Internet, exactly
the same conclusions would apply if you copied some or all of your
paper from a Web site. If you acknowledge the source, you are not
being dishonest. Your work may or may not fulfill the terms of an
assignment, and you may or may not receive a high grade; however,
you have given the source credit for the work, and you are honor
ing intellectual property. Regardless of your grade, you are not be
ing dishonest. On the other hand, if you do not acknowledge the
source, then your methodology is not appropriate, you are not be
ing responsible, and you are being dishonest. None of this behavior
is condoned by the principle of academic honesty.
Along with the idea of intellectual property,
copyright
also must
be considered when gathering information from the World Wide
Web. Many people believe that they can
