Amal Al-Sibai

Saudi Gazette



JEDDAH — Stealing a gold bracelet or money from someone’s bag, shoplifting, and car theft are all considered criminal acts that should receive strict punishment.



So why does society turn a blind eye to another form of stealing; and in so doing we are actually permitting the violation of the rights of scientists, thinkers, and writers?



Taking words or academic research and attaching them to one’s name while neglecting to mention the original author’s name is considered plagiarism – or stealing.



The formal definition of plagiarism is to take and pass off (ideas or words of another) as one’s own, to use (another’s production) without crediting the source, or to present as new and original an idea or product or words derived from an existing source.



A survey conducted on high school students in the United States, which was published in Education Week, found that 54 percent of students admitted to plagiarizing from the internet, 74 percent of students admitted that at least once during the past school year they had cheated, and 47 percent of students believe that their teachers sometimes ignore students who are cheating.



Dahham Al-Enazi, Saudi journalist, columnist, and opinion writer, hosted a cultural and literary forum in his residence to address plagiarism, which is admittedly an urgent problem in our society but it usually takes a back burner to other issues in educational, political, and social discourse.



Prominent educators, writers, a shura council member, and the ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman attended and participated in the forum. By taking a cursory look, one may question whether simply copying a few lines from someone else’s writing is really such a grave offense after all and why there is a need for making such a big fuss about it.



Plagiarism can have a profound, negative impact on educational development in the Kingdom. National statistics show that more than 7,000 individuals in the Kingdom are holding forged or false academic degrees.



“The negative effects of plagiarism on a society are far-reaching and many. Gradually, we, as a people, will lose our creativity and originality if we allow people to engage in stealing the words or research of others. Giving national acclaim to those who have forged certificates and research papers will only affirm this illegal practice. It is unjust that often times in society some gifted and talented people with genuine ideas and hard work may lag behind those who climbed the ladder of success through fraud and forgery,” said Adel Al-Majed, professor at Riyadh College of Telecom and Information.



“Some people take an unethical short-cut through academic theft to obtain a degree or certificate or position, and this should be unacceptable. The real process of studying, research, writing, and documenting is slow, arduous, meticulous, and long. It can take several years until the honest person is finally recognized and prized in society,” added Al-Majed.



“As long as plagiarism exists in our academic circles, we will be unable to present our research to the world community and to become global leaders in research and educational advancement. The international community has no tolerance for plagiarism yet in many cases this crime goes unpunished in the Kingdom,” said Al-Majed.



Al-Majed emphasized that stealing someone’s words is unethical, even if it is only a verse of poetry.



“By nature, conducting research or writing a thesis is laborious, time-consuming, and painstaking but one must never resort to looking for an easy way out. There is no excuse for taking from someone else’s work,” said Dr. Salim Al-Qahtani, shura council member.



Part of the solution that may help curtail the spread of plagiarism in society is to formulate strict laws banning plagiarism, but more importantly, these laws should be enforced.



In addition, the importance of hard work and ethics should be emphasized when students are still in the elementary grades in schools, rather than waiting until students reach the university level.



“Much of my current work involves combating academic fraud. Legislation is being introduced to develop a system that will expose and penalize those guilty of forgery or plagiarism. These laws will be implemented in the near future, and the Ministry of Higher Education is playing a major role in this process. Several software programs are available that universities can use to easily detect plagiarized work in students’ research papers. There should be no room for flexibility or leniency when it comes to plagiarism. If society as a whole criticizes those who plagiarize, fewer and fewer people will make this mistake,” saud Al-Qahtani.



“Unfortunately academic fraud and cheating is very common in the Kingdom and it takes on many forms. Getting excellent but undeserved grades in school, getting a promotion at work, copying research papers, and obtaining a forged degree are all forms of cheating. As long as universities and institutions refuse to address plagiarism, fraud, and cheating as serious crimes, these activities will continue in our society,” said Dr. Sahar Al-Khashrami, professor of special education at King Saudi University; she also launched a Twitter account, condemning academic fraud and forgery.



In other countries, in some institutions, the punishment for academic plagiarism is expulsion. However in most institutions, the action taken is usually confronting the student and giving a failing grade for the subject.

Diligence is necessary on the part of the instructors and the administration of the academic institutions when it comes to both detecting and punishing academic plagiarism.