Plagiarism an 'epidemic' today
Plagiarism has turned into an “epidemic” today, with even renowned institutions, including the University of Dhaka, recently discovering PhD students being involved, said Dr Akbar Ali Khan yesterday.
Addressing a “Conclave on Academic & Research Integrity 2018” at Brac University in the capital, he suggested people to stay aware and the government to fix a policy to address the issue.
Organised by Ayesha Abed Library and Turnitindia Private Ltd, the event aimed to disseminate knowledge and awareness about plagiarism in research.
Prof ATM Nurul Amin, chairperson of economics and social sciences department at Brac University, said plagiarism resulted from a poverty of ideas, inability to write or being unfamiliar with scholarly writing.
Ending the practice requires building a culture, he said, demanding that the industry finance research and development, and ensure retention of originality of ideas.
Manzoor Hasan, executive director of the university's Centre for Peace and Justice, questioned whether the prevailing social fragility resulted from a lack of integrity and whether governance and development should overlap.
He pointed out that the national integrity strategy should start at micro level and set a standard, as exemplified by recent student protests on complying with the rule of law, while suggestions could be taken from the United Nations convention against corruption.
Prof K Shamsuddin Mahmood, dean of the School of Law at the university, said no statute of the country addresses the issue of plagiarism, while the UK is considering criminalising contractual cheating.
He too urged industry owners to encourage inventions by facilitating patents for employees.
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