ETHICS IN THE DIGITAL SPACE

Transcription

1 ETHICS IN THE DIGITAL SPACE GIVING CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE An overview of plagiarism, citation and attribution ethical practices in the digital space By Rebecca L. Cooney, MSC Clinical Assistant Professor Washington State University

2 TERMINOLOGY Plagiarism Citation Attribution Plagiarism = copying someone else s work and claiming it as your own. Plagiarism is an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author. Dictionary.com Citation = Act of telling readers WHERE you found a quote or select info/ideas. A "citation" is the way you tell your readers that certain material in your work came from another source. It also gives your readers the information necessary to find that source again. Plagiarism.org Attribution = Act of crediting a source for a quote or info within your content tells readers WHO said/wrote it. The definition of attribution means the act of giving someone credit for doing something or the quality or characteristic of a particular person. YourDictionary.com

3 OVERVIEW & SCENARIOS In 310 students are faced with several realworld scenarios that require knowledge and practice of ethical principles related to citation and attribution. When creating original website content, social media posts, creative assets including images, video and audio, copy, and digital advertising, communication professionals must maintain high standards and practices to avoid plagiarism, copyright violations, and trademark infringement. Common scenarios faced by 310 students include: Use of images Use of video footage Use of music, sound or audio clips Pulling content from existing websites or articles Quoting content from existing social media posts Modeling ideas from other companies

4 DIGITAL ETHICS: RULES OF 310 In 310, students are ONLY authorized to use images, video footage, music/audio clips that fall under one of three categories: 1. Characterized and clearly labeled as royaltyfree; downloaded from royalty-free source 2. Original, captured by the student or members of the team 3. Student has permission from the asset owner, in writing, to use the image, footage or sound for education purposes When writing or borrowing content for web pages and blog posts, students must cite within text and include a reference section at the end of pages where in-text citations are noted When writing or borrowing content for social media posts, students must follow best practices for attribution when quoting content or ideas from another user.

5 TO CITE OR NOT TO CITE When to cite You get a quote or idea from -anything that did not originate from YOU. Someone tells you something you want to use. You reuse a table, chart, diagram, photograph, illustration, map or other material Any time you quote someone else's exact words or copy a "unique phrase" from somewhere. No need to cite if You did an experiment or conducted an original survey and are presenting your own results. You are stating "generally accepted facts." You are incorporating "common knowledge" into your material You are simply stating your own thoughts or opinion or recounting a personal experience Digital assets you are using (images, videofootage, audio clips) are clearly labeled as royalty free SOURCE: Suffolk University Boston

6 QUOTING, BORROWING OR PARAPHRASING from Existing Websites or Articles Within text: (Author s last name, year of publication, page numbers if applicable) Examples: Direct quote: A well-conceived communications audit, or communications effectiveness study is an effective management tool that helps target messages, media and audiences and improves the effectiveness of communications efforts. (Hollister and Trubow, 2005) Borrowed idea or concept: Quantitative research is typically used to derive trends and quantifiable data from a given market or source. Common methods include surveys, analytics and other tools that based around gathering measurable data (Fletcher, 2015).

7 CITING ONLINE ARTICLES References at end of page When author and date are listed: Last, F.M. (Year, Month Date published). Article title. Title of online publication. Retrieved from URL Example: Williams, J. (2012, May 23). What is internet marketing. Search Engine Journal. Retrieved from When no author is listed: Title of webpage/article. (Year, Month Date of publication). Retrieved from URL Example: All 33 Chile miners freed in flawless rescue. (2010, October 13). Retrieved from When no author or date is listed: Title of webpage/article. (n.d.). Retrieved from URL Example: Content Marketing Institute (n.d.) Retrieved from

8 CITING BLOG POSTS Within text: (last name, year) Example: (Jones, 2016) Reference at the end of the page: Last, F. M. (Year Month Date Published). Article title [Type of blog post]. Retrieved from URL. Example: Schonfeld, E. (2010, May 3). Google throws $38.8 million to the wind [Web log post]. Retrieved May 4, 2010, from

9 CITING PRINT PUBLICATION Within text: (last name, year) Example: (Jones, 2016) Reference at the end of the page: Last, F.M. (year published). Title of book. City, State of publisher: Publisher name. Example: Jugenheimer, D.W. and Kelley, L.D. (2010). Advertising Account Planning: Planning and Managing an IMC Campaign, 2nd edition. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe.

10 QUOTING FROM FACEBOOK POST Use share function (vs. copy/pasting) as the information captured in that share will include the original url, author and names of others who have also shared the post. Structure: Last, First. (Year, month day posted). First several words of Facebook post... [Facebook update]. Retrieved from URL Example: Penguin, Oscar (2013, April 18). Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week... [Facebook post]. Retrieved from

11 QUOTING FROM INSTAGRAM POST Use share function (vs. copy/pasting) as the information captured in that share will include the original url, author and names of others who have also shared the post. handle. (Year, month day posted). First several words of Instagram post (if any)... [Instagram post]. Retrieved from URL Example: libechillbro. (2013, April 18). Root beer floats are in honor of National Library Week [Instagram post]. Retrieved from