Plagiarism and its history

To plagiarize may be defined as to take words, ideas, etc. from someone else’s work and use them in your work, as if they were your own ideas (Longman Dictionary, 1995). The origin of plagiarism is noted in McArthur (1992) as coming from the obsolete noun plagiary meaning a kidnapper or a kidnapping, theft or a thief of ideas. This, in turn, came from the Latin word plagiarius meaning a kidnapper or a literary thief.

The first recorded use of plagiary was in the late 16th century. Both plagiary and plagiarism are included in the 18th century dictionaries of Nathaniel Bailey and Samuel Johnson.

For some students, plagiarism may be unintentional, caused by their lack of awareness of the academic convention in English of acknowledging all sources in their writing. For this reason, many study guides and other books for students give advice, examples and ways in which sources should be cited (e.g. Hamp-Lyons and Courter, 1984; Leki, 1989; Waters and Waters, 1995). One article in particular clearly sets out the format for a bibliography, showing the different layout necessary for books, journals and other papers (Lynch and McGrath, 1993).

3.15. The following information will be useful for you in reading English for scientific purposes.

Latin words and abbreviations are often used in citation terms or in texts.

Latin	short for	English equivalent
c./ca. cf. e.g. et al etc. et seq. ibid i.e. loc.cit. N.B. op. cit. passim q.v. viz.	circa confer exempli gratia et alii et cetera et sequens ibidem id est loco citato nota bene opere citato quod vide videlicet	about, approximately (e.g. с 1000) compare with for example, for instance and others and the rest, and all others, and so on and the following pages in the same place (used to refer again to a text just referred to) which is to say, in other words, that is in the places already mentioned (+ author’s name) take special note of; note well in the work already mentioned (+author’s name and page reference) frequently, in every part, in many places which may be referred to, refer to, see (often used for cross-references in another part of the text) namely, that is to say, in other words

Common English abbreviations

Ed./Eds. – Editor(s); edited by; edition

ff. – and the following pages, lines, etc.

l./ll. – line(s)

ms./mss. – manuscript(s)

no./nos. – number(s)

p./pp. – page(s)

para./paras. – paragraph(s)

ref./refs. – reference(s)

vol./vols. – volume(s)

3.16. In a recent issue of the Technology Review from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology the editors listed areas of emerging technology that they believe will have the greatest impact during the next decade. Read the passages below and:

● rephrase the words in bold

● summarise each part in one sentence

● give your comments

1. BRAIN-MACHINE INTERFACES

Implanting sensors in the cortex will open the way to the interpretation of electrical activity so that thought processes can be converted into actions.

RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS

● Improved algorithms for interpreting electrical activity in the brain.

● Progress also depends on the development of reliable and safe implant techniques

POTENTIAL USES – Brain-machine interfaces would allow disabled or paralysed people to control wheel-chairs, write e-mails, etc. In the long term, accurate control of artificial arms should be possible.

2. MICROPHOTONICS

Photonic crystals and photons can be compared to semiconductors and electrons. Depending on the wavelengths and the design of the crystal, they can be used to bend, to split or to reunite photons. As these crystals do not scatter or absorb light, they are significantly faster and more efficient.

RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS

● Identification and cheap synthesis of electro-optical polymers which have the appropriate physical properties.

● Improved amplification and signal regeneration techniques will also be required.

POTENTIAL USES – The fibre optics network for telecommunications is on the point of saturation. Transmitting data at speeds approaching that of light means that a 1,000 times as much data could be transmitted.

3. BIOMETRICS

Biometrics is concerned with developing systems that can recognise unique biological features so that individuals can be reliably identified.

RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS

● More sophisticated search algorithms and pattern recognition software will be needed.

● Huge data bases will have to be set up and storage capacity developed.

POTENTIAL USES – Current identification methods are not secure for electronic transactions. Biometric software can already identify finger prints, retinal patterns, voice patterns, and facial features. In the near future, digital codes and other passwords could be replaced by biometric identification.

4. MICROFLUIDICS

This field is concerned with research at the level of the nano or picolitre. Once understanding has been attained at a micro-scale, many basic functions of analysis, synthesis and diagnosis could be done automatically.

RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS - The main prerequisites for progress in this area are :

● Improved interfaces.

● A breakthrough in chip miniaturisation.

POTENTIAL USES – High speed analysis of DNA, automatic analysis and synthesis, detection of gene mutation and drug-delivery techniques.

3.17. Discuss with your partner the answers to the following questions and share your ideas with the group.

1. What is your guess for the future?

2. Can you suggest one or two interesting social changes resulting from new technology in the next 20 or 30 years?

3. How do science and technology influence people?

4. What are the potential dangers of scientific discoveries?

5. What problems worry the world today?

6. How can scientists so confidently predict what will occur in the next 100 years when we can’t even predict the weather for tomorrow?

7. Can you speak about the founder in your field of science?

8. What are the major unsolved problems in the branch of science you deal with?

9. Do you know the most popular works of your scientific supervisor?

10. Can you recall some scientists of the past whose fundamental discoveries were epoch-making in the science they worked in?

11. Do you know Russian scientists who were awarded Nobel Prizes in Physics (10), Chemistry (1), Physiology and Medicine (2), Economics (1)?

12. What is your idea of an educated person?