For better or worse, law is an important part of mass communication. The law is not always a threat to writers, of course. It can be a positive force. For example, he law can help writers by enabling them to protect their work against theft by obtaining a copy right. On the other side of the coin, the law places limitation and invasion of privacy. The federal government also limits writers’ freedom when it regulates such activities as broadcasting and false advertising.
Other issues for writers in the information age have been plagiarism and copyright violations. Information gathering today via the internet makes is easy to commandeer information and claim it as the writer’s own work- whether unintentionally or purposefully. Sometimes the writer stores information and later inadvertently uses it without attributing the original source. In other cases, the material is stolen outright. In any case, the writer may have plagiarized and possibly infringed on another’s copyright.
Copyright violations occur when writers use another’s work and don’t get permission. It is not sufficient simply to credit the original author, unless the material falls under a category known as fair use, explained later in the chapter.
You will learn
- what libel is
- the dangers of plagiarism and what constitutes copyrighted material,
- how ethic policies guide writers, and
Libel
Libel can occur in any writing: a news article, a news release, a public service announcement, annual reports, corporate financial statements, a television talk show, a student’s web site, or a church bulletin. If a news release is mailed but not published, the writer could still be sued for libel because dissemination of the falsity occurred. A radio or television station that broadcasts slander or libelous statements can be sued under the state’s libel laws.
Libel often occurs when people write about topics they do not really understand. In experienced reporters, student writers, and occasional writers are most at risk. Food data collection, complete identification, and good writing techniques can prevent many libel problems.
The legal system will protect writers who do a good job of investigating and who use many sources. Innocent mistakes made without negligence or actual malice are not libelous. The protection often will hold even if they write something that turns out to be false and defamatory.
Plagiarism
Definition: Plagiarism involves using the work of another person and presenting it as one's own. Any of the following acts constitutes plagiarism unless the source of each quotation or piece of borrowed material is clearly acknowledged.
a) Copying out part(s) of any document or audio-visual material (including computer-based material);
b) Using or extracting another person's concepts, experimental results, or conclusions;
c) Summarizing another person's work;
d) In an assignment where there was collaborative preparatory work, submitting substantially the same final version of any material as another student.
Part of the reason
Encouraging or assisting another person to commit plagiarism is a form of improper collusion and may attract the same penalties which apply to plagiarism.
Opportunities and temptations for plagiarism have increased with the spread of internet access. Plagiarism is a serious threat to the teaching and accreditation process, and seriously undermines the collegial and ethical principles which underpin the work of a University
2) The Dangers of Plagiarism and How to avoid it
The integrity of learning and scholarship depends on a code of conduct governing good practice and acceptable academic behavior. One of the most important elements of good practice involves acknowledging carefully the people whose ideas we have used, borrowed, or developed. All students and scholars are bound by these rules because all scholarly work depends in one way or another on the work of others.
Therefore, there is nothing wrong in a student using the work of others as a basis for their own work, nor is it evidence of inadequacy on the student's part, provided they do not attempt to pass off someone else's work as their own.
To maintain good academic practice, so that a student may be given credit for their own efforts, and so that their own contribution can be properly appreciated and evaluated, they should acknowledge their sources and they should ALWAYS:
I) State clearly in the appropriate form where they found the material on which they have based their work, using the system of reference specified by the Faculty in which their assignment was set;
ii) Acknowledge the people whose concepts, experiments, or results they have extracted, developed, or summarized, even if they put these ideas into their own words;
iii) Avoid excessive copying of passages by another author, even where the source is acknowledged. Find another form of words to show that the student has thought about the material and understood it, but stating clearly where they found the ideas.
If a student uses the work of another person without clearly stating or acknowledging their source, the result is falsely claiming that material as their own work and committing an act of PLAGIARISM. This is a very serious violation of good practice and an offence for which a student will be penalized.
Ethic policies
Writing about ethical theories can often be daunting. Here are some suggestions which may make it a little easier.
Choosing and Defining a Topic
If the topic for your paper is not assigned by your instructor, here are some suggestions about how to proceed.
- Choose a topic you’re interested in. Papers are simply a lot easier to do if you’re interested in the topic you’re working on, and all other things being equal you will do a better paper as a result.
- Choose a topic that you’ll get something out of. Your time is too valuable to do things that are not worth your while. If, for example, you are already clear about your position on a particular moral issue and have already thought through the arguments on both sides, you will probably learn more by doing a paper on some other moral issue that you are still perplexed or uncertain about.
- Choose a topic that you can cover within the time you have available and space limits of the assignment. Don’t, in other words, bite off more than you can chew.
- Sit down and figure out what you believe. Sometimes it’s difficult to know what your own views are, especially when you see a lot of different arguments for and against a position. If this happens, you may find it helpful simply to sit down and start to list (a) the things you think are true in regard to your topic and (b) the claims you think are false. It gives you a starting point for developing your own ideas.
- Develop and continually refine your thesis. In most cases in ethics papers, you will be developing and refining a thesis, that is, a claim which you are defending through reasoned arguments. In the course of working on your thesis, you will usually find yourself narrowing it down and making it more precise, more finely textured. You might begin, for example, with some general claim that euthanasia is wrong, and gradually refine it to a much more specific thesis about the role of physicians in voluntary euthanasia for persons with very painful non-fatal diseases.
- Consider the objections to your thesis. Your thesis is developed and refined through a dialogue with other thinkers about your topic. The process of considering objections to your own position and developing replies to those objections is an essential part of the intellectual life. Through this process, your own ideas become clearer and sharper.
Remember to choose your topic carefully. Your time is valuable, and it is not worth doing things in life that you do not care about.
Finding Sources
There are a number of helpful sources for gaining information about material on your topic.
- The card catalogue of college and university libraries usually contains both a subject index and an author index.
- The Philosophers’ Index lists articles and books by specific topic; it also contains abstracts for many of the articles. It is available both in bound volumes and on-line for computerized searches through Dialog Information Service. Consult with your college librarian about how to choose keywords for searches.
- Several philosophy journals specialize in articles about ethics: Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, Journal of Value Inquiry, Social Philosophy & Policy, the Journal of Social Philosophy and the Hastings Center Report. In addition to this, some journals have individual issues devoted to particular topics. The Monist and Midwest Studies in Philosophy, for example, have had several issues devoted specifically to ethical issues.
- Anthologies are often an excellent source both of reprinted articles and bibliographies. Often they contain bibliographical essays or introductions that map out the current state of the discussion.
- Several excellent reference works are available in ethics, especially The Encyclopedia of Ethics (2002), 3rd ed., edited by Lawrence and Charlotte Becker; A Companion to Ethics (2002), edited by Peter Singer, and The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1967), edited by Paul Edwards.
Talk with your reference librarians. They are often delighted to help.
Some Common Pitfalls
There are a number of common pitfalls that you can easily avoid with a careful review of the draft of your paper before you submit it.
- Avoid rhetorical questions. Often we use rhetorical questions as a way of dismissing an idea. If the question is worth asking, it is worth answering. If you find yourself asking a question such as, who’s to say what is moral? Try to answer the question. This transforms it from a question into an assertion which can then be assessed on its merits.
- Avoid clichés. Sometimes we resort to stock phrases that we have heard time and again but perhaps not really thought about. How often have you heard someone say reject an idea by claiming that it's like saying that the end justifies the means? If you think about it for a minute, you will see that the end often justifies the means. Indeed, for pure consequentiality, it is the only thing, which justifies any means. Similarly, You cannot legislate morality.
- Be aware of exact meanings of words. Do not use big words in order to sound impressive. Philosophers often use a specialized vocabulary that has a precise meaning within the philosophical community, just as any group of specialists does. Use this vocabulary when it is needed and when you have mastered it. (The glossary in this book is intended to help you gain a mastery of some of this vocabulary.) Do not use it if you do not know what it means or if it's not appropriate to the context and to your audience.
- Be specific and concise.
- A spell-checker is not enough! If you prepare your paper on a computer, use a spell-checker and, if available, a grammar checker. However, after you have done that, check the text yourself. A spell checker cannot differentiate between there and their or between effect and affect. If you forget the h in threat, it becomes a treat.
- Use gender-neutral language. In recent years, we have become increasingly conscious of the ways in which our language gives the (sometimes unintended) impression that we are referring just to men when it is more appropriate to refer to both men and women. Many of us now try to avoid this. Some authors use constructions like he/she or her or him; others alternate, sometimes using feminine pronouns and at other times using masculine ones. My own inclination is to use plural forms whenever appropriate or to use constructions that avoid the need to employ gender-specific pronouns, since I find the other two ways stylistically awkward.
- State what you’re omitting. It is usually impossible in a paper, or even a book, to cover all the relevant issues. There's nothing wrong with admitting this. In fact, it's often advisable to let your reader know that you are aware of important issues that you have chosen not to treat in that context. Often, this can be accomplished in a sentence or even a clause. Here are a couple of examples.
- I realize that Kant’s philosophy is open to criticism on many fronts, but in this paper I will concentrate solely on issues about how maxims can be formulated and then subjected to the test of universalizability.
- Many thinkers have offered important insights into the nature of courage in a wide range of situations, but here I will be concerned only with instances of courage within a military context.
- If you’re undecided about an issue, say so. It's OK to say that you're undecided about an issue. Sometimes you have reflected on an issue and see strong arguments on both sides of the question and have not yet decided where you stand. It's often appropriate to admit this as long as you show a critical awareness of the arguments on both sides and give some indication of how you have progressed in your thinking on the issue.
- When you make a mistake, learn from it. Keep a list of the spelling and grammatical mistakes that you make in each of your papers, along with the appropriate corrections. Review it before you submit the final draft of your current paper and then proof read your current paper in light of the mistakes you typically make.
