Hello everyone,
I have a bit of a problem which I need some help with.
I am working on a project for the Flinders University Staff Development and
Training Unit in Adelaide, South Australia. The project is to put together
an 'Academic Integrity Management System', which, given its broad scope,
looks to deal with issues around not only plagiarism, but also collusion
and other forms of cheating.
My question relates to conventions of citation.
I have a concern that 'common practice' or 'common knowledge' in certain
disciplines sometimes falls outside of the conventions of citation. In my
area of study and teaching (Sociology), it is quite straightforward:
everything is cited, as 'common knowledge' is one of the areas which is
critiqued by the discipline.
However, I feel that in some other disciplines where the knowledge is more
concrete, there are ways of doing things which have been part of accepted
practice maybe for a hundred years or so. If such 'common' or 'accepted
knowledge' is used in a lecture or in a published paper, does it need to
cited? If it is not cited, does that leave the academic open to charges of
plagiarism and indeed hypocrisy?
This concern has arisen due to the plagiarism spotlight being thrown back
onto academics as plagiarism increases (supposedly).
I hope that this discussion list can shed some light on my concerns.
Thank you,
Robert Muller,
Project Officer,
AIMS Project,
Staff Development and Training Unit,
Flinders University.
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