IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 5, No. 1, September 2021, pp. 29-37 International Journal of Humanity Studies http://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/IJHS Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 29 RESPECT: A SIMPLE METHOD TO AVOID PLAGIARISM IN EFL CONTEXT Behnam Aghayani Independent Researcher, Islamic Republic of Iran correspondence: behnam.aghayani@gmail.com DOI: 10.24071/ijhs.v5i1.3670 received 9 September 2021; accepted 23 September 2021 Abstract Academic Plagiarism, consciously or unconsciously, is on the rise and it hurts the scientific community. So, regarding the absurd nature of this academic misconduct, the present study aimed to introduce and develop a new and simple method, called RESPECT, to avoid plagiarism in EFL context. To this end, first, the reasons behind plagiarism and factors that influenced on plagiarism have been discussed. Second, all types of plagiarism have been identified and then, some important studies on plagiarism in EFL context have been reviewed. Finally, the components of RESPECT have been defined. Based on the key role of RESPECT, it would eliminate plagiarism not only in the EFL context but also in all areas of science. Moreover, it is hoped that we will no longer see the occurrence of such academic misconduct by following the strategies to avoid plagiarism in academic writings. In addition, some recommendations to avoid plagiarism have been provided at the end. Keywords: plagiarism, academic misconduct, EFL context, EFL learners Introduction Academic integrity and ethics are two key terms in the academic context that any researcher attempts to consider this principle in his/her writing. However, some researchers, consciously or unconsciously, forget to consider this principle, which leads to plagiarism. Plagiarism, according to Das and Panjabi (2011), “is the wrongful presentation of somebody else’s work or idea as one’s own without adequately attributing it to the source” (p. 67). Debnath (2016) considered plagiarism as “a silent epidemic in scientific writing” (p. 164), in addition, Bouville (2008) believed that it is “a crime against academy” (p. 1) and “what makes plagiarism reprehensible is that it involves an unfair acquisition of scientific credit” (Helgesson & Eriksson, 2015, p. 100). In general, plagiarism is a poison in the research community that leads to writing invalid and worthless articles. Due to the absurd nature of this academic misconduct, it not only damages the author’s reputation but also discredits his/her university. There are many reasons behind plagiarism; for example, Mohammed et al. (2015) found that insufficient knowledge regarding the subject is main reason for plagiarism. Furthermore, according to Jereb et al. (2018), main reason for IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 5, No. 1, September 2021, pp. 29-37 30 committing plagiarism is simple access to the Internet. A number of studies reported factors that influence plagiarism which include academic achievement differences, gender differences, and age differences (Newstead et al., 1996), individual factors, contextual factors, and institutional factors (McCabe et al., 2001), lack of compatible styles between different disciplines, lack of students’ investment in their education, lack of knowledge, and situational ethics (Auer & Krupar, 2001), lack of deterrence, lack of understanding, temptation and opportunity, and efficiency gain (Park, 2003), lack of strong belief in plagiarism detection (Martin, 2005), situational factors, and individual factors (Giluk & Postlethwaite, 2015), and gender differences (Jereb et al., 2018). However, Mohammad Hosseinpur et al. (2018) in their study among Iranian academic community found following reasons driving plagiarism: 1. Lack of sufficient guidance from the earliest levels of education 2. Incidence of cheating and laziness among students 3. The demand to write articles by supervisors and students to obtain greater degree 4. Grades and position the simplicity of university admission in MA and PhD level Types of Plagiarism The various types of plagiarism have been identified that are presented in Table 1. Table 1. Types of Plagiarism Types of Plagiarism Definition Sham Paraphrasing Walker (1998) defined it as “material copied verbatim from text and source acknowledged in-line but represented as paraphrased” (p. 103). Patchwriting (also known as mosaic plagiarism) According to Howard (1999), patchwriting is “copying from a source text and then deleting some words, altering grammatical structures, or plugging in one-for-one synonym for another” (p. xvii). Illicit Paraphrasing It “occurs when material is paraphrased but writers do not include an in-text citation to acknowledge that the information was borrowed from another work” (Strittmatter & Bratton, 2016, p. 6). Other Plagiarism It occurs when “material copied from another student’s assignment with the knowledge of the other student” (Walker, 1998, p. 103). Verbatim Copying (also known as copy & paste plagiarism) It defined as “material copied verbatim from text without in-line acknowledgement of the source” (Walker, 1998, p. 103). Recycling According to Walker (1998) it refers to “same assignment submitted more than once for different courses” (p. 103). Ghost Writing According to Knapp and Hulbert (2017), “it describes the writing of material by one person (the writer) for use by another (the client) who will be credited with its authorship” (p. vi). Purloining It refers to “assignments that are the work of other IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 5, No. 1, September 2021, pp. 29-37 31 students with or without their knowledge” (Leung & Cheng, 2017, p. 1646). Secondary Source Plagiarism According to Sharma and Verma (2020), it “occurs when a researcher uses a secondary source but purposefully cites only the primary once within the secondary” (p. 2). Paraphrasing Plagiarism It occurs when “a source is paraphrased but not acknowledged in the text” (Buckley, 2015, p. 354). Plagiarism of the Form of a Source It refers to “cases in which the plagiariser does look up the primary sources but does not acknowledge a systematic dependence on the citations in the secondary source” (McNamee et al., 2006, p. 118). Plagiarism of Ideas According to Mohammed et al. (2015), it refers to “theft of a new idea or a theory presented anywhere. The plagiarist then conducts research based on this idea/theory and presents it as if it is his/her own without acknowledgment of the source” (p. 8). Plagiarism of Text (also known as direct plagiarism, word‑for‑word plagiarism, and copy-cut- paste plagiarism) It “occurs when a researcher takes an entire paragraph from another source and includes it in his own research writing” (Mohammed et al., 2015, p. 8). Self-Plagiarism (Duplication) It “referred to as a reuse of previously published works without providing adequate references” (Lin, 2020, p. 302). Collusion It refers to “asking someone else to write a piece of work for the plagiarist who then presents it as if it’s his own” (Mohammed et al., 2015, p. 8). Translational Plagiarism (also known as cross- language plagiarism) It refers to translation “novel data or ideas from one language to another, representing it as unique and one’s own creation without crediting the original work” (Gray et al., 2019, p. 57). Repetitive Research Plagiarism It includes “repeating or reusing of data or the entire text from a study with similar methodology and results without properly attributing or citing it” (Sharma & Verma, 2020, p. 2). Complete Plagiarism (Stealing) According to Laxmi (2018), it occurs “when a researcher takes a study, a manuscript or other work from another researcher and simply resubmits it under his/her own name” (p. 737). Style Plagiarism It refers to “copying an author’s reasoning style or concept even when the texts are fully paraphrased” (Eisa et al., 2015, p. 384). Metaphor Plagiarism It refers to “copying someone else’s metaphors in describing a particular subject” (Eisa et al., 2015, p. 384). Potluck Paper It occurs when “the writer tries to disguise plagiarism by copying from several different sources, tweaking the sentences retaining most of the original phrasing” (Mahmood & Mahmood, 2014, p. 221). Labor of Laziness According to Mahmood and Mahmood (2014), it occurs IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 5, No. 1, September 2021, pp. 29-37 32 when “the writer takes the time to paraphrase most of the paper from other sources and make it all fit together effort on original work” (p. 222). Poor Disguise It occurs when “the writer has retained the essential content of the source, he or she has altered the paper’s words of phrases” (Mahmood & Mahmood, 2014, p. 221). Word Switch Plagiarism It occurs when “someone copies another’s published work with some words changed to avoid suspicion” (Sutar, 2017, p. 2). Authorship Plagiarism It refers to “putting one’s name to someone else’s work” (Sutar, 2017, p. 2). Photocopy It occurs when “the writer copies significant portions of text straight from a single source, without alteration” (Mahmood & Mahmood, 2014, p. 221). Data Fabrication It occurs when the writer “making up of data, results extrapolation and recording or reproducing them” (Arya, 2013, p. 28). Studies on Plagiarism in EFL Context In last decade, Mu study’s (2010) draws more attention on plagiarism in the field of English language as foreign language (EFL). He found that EFL students have poor knowledge about plagiarism in academic writing. Rezanejad and Rezaei (2013) in their study among 122 EFL learners in Iran explored on EFL learners’ perception of plagiarism. They came to conclusion that ‘easiness of plagiarism’ is the most important reason for plagiarism. Moreover, Ahmadi (2014) examined plagiarism among 132 EFL learners (both male and female) in Iran. The results from his study showed that EFL learners used different types of plagiarism in their academic writing. He also found that gender has no significant effect on plagiarism. The findings from Amiri and Razmjoo’s study (2016) among 12 EFL students revealed that teachers’ ignorance of plagiarism, inadequate writing and research abilities, peer pressure, the need to deliver high-quality papers, and the easiness of plagiarizing are the important factors that lead to plagiarism. Furthermore, Babaii and Nejadghanbar (2016) investigated the reasons for plagiarism among 156 Iranian graduate students of applied linguistics. The results showed that students’ unfamiliarity with the concept of plagiarism is primary reason for carrying out plagiarism. In another study, Al Darwish and Sadeqi (2016) examined the reasons for plagiarism in EFL writing course among 121 female students. They came to conclusion that the EFL students done plagiarism to pass the course with good grade. Besides, Zarfsaz and Ahmadi (2017) explored on the reasons of plagiarism among 150 EFL learners. Based on their findings, EFL learners’ inadequate knowledge to avoid plagiarism in their writing is the major reason of plagiarism. Fazilatfar et al. (2018) found that citation instruction has significant effect on EFL learners to avoid plagiarism in their writing assignments. Moreover, Mustafa (2019) in his study on 34 EFL students in Indonesia found that 94 percent of the participants knew what is plagiarism but 66.67 percent of them didn’t know that paraphrasing without citation is a kind of plagiarism. In addition, “88.89 percent IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 5, No. 1, September 2021, pp. 29-37 33 of the students considered that patchwriting is not plagiarism” (Mustafa, 2019, p. 74). A Simple Method to Avoid Plagiarism The present study aims to provide a new simple method to avoid plagiarism in EFL context. This method named “RESPECT”, that its notion is firstly introduced by Aghayani (2015), is an acronym of seven functions that prevent EFL learners to do plagiarism in their writing. The components of RESPECT are presented in figure 1. Figure 1. The components of RESPECT Referencing The way in which an author acknowledges the sources he/she used in his/her writing is called referencing. There are two types of referencing in the academic writing: in-text citation and citing the source(s) at the end of writing. Both types are necessary and this way is the first step that helps EFL learners to avoid plagiarism. Effective note-taking When an author distinguishes his/her own writing style from the other author writing style he/she used effective note-taking. The effective note-taking not only prevent EFL learners to do plagiarism but also can boost their English writing skills. Summarizing It refers to the concise version of main text that includes key concepts in an author his/her own words. It also allows EFL learners to create a summary of original text without any copy. Paraphrasing When an author restates the original text in his/her own words, he/she used paraphrasing method. As paraphrasing promotes EFL learners English writing, it can be considered as valuable skill in EFL context. IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 5, No. 1, September 2021, pp. 29-37 34 Effective quoting Effective quoting refers to direct quotation in a way that is absolutely correct. That is, the author needs to use quotation marks and provide the author’s name, work’s publication date, and page number. It is a basic training for EFL learners to avoid plagiarism in their writings. Citing your material When an author used material somewhere that previously published by himself, he must to cite the previous one in the current one. This practice helps EFL learners to avoid self-plagiarism. Timing According to Comas-Forgas and Sureda-Negre (2010), “a large number of assignments and poor time management by students (or, similarly, procrastination) lead students to consider plagiarism as an easy way” (p.228). Therefore, timing, as the last component of RESPECT, prevent EFL learners to do plagiarism. Conclusion The current study aims to introduce a new and simple method, called RESPECT, to avoid plagiarism in EFL context. To this end, first of all, the author provided the reasons behind plagiarism. Besides, all types of plagiarism have been identified and then, the author reviewed some important studies on plagiarism in EFL context. Finally, the components of RESPECT have been defined. Based on the literature, it can be concluded that EFL learners can avoid plagiarism in their writing by following RESPECT. It is hoped that RESPCET will be able to eliminate plagiarism not only in the EFL context but also in all areas of science. Moreover, it is hoped that we will no longer see the occurrence of such academic misconduct by following the strategies to avoid plagiarism in academic writings. In addition to using RESPECT and concerning recommendations for EFL learners, the author highlights the following: 1. Use a plagiarism detection tool 2. Study the common citation guides (e.g., APA, MLA, Harvard, and Chicago) 3. Increase their awareness of academic integrity and ethics 4. Improve their writing skills. 5. Understand the reasons behind plagiarism References Aghayani, B. (2015). Plagiarism and ways to avoid it. Translation Industry Quarterly, 4, 106-109. Ahmadi, A. (2014). Plagiarism in the academic context: A study of Iranian EFL learners. Research Ethics, 10(3), 151-168. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1747016113488859 Al Darwish, S., & Sadeqi, A. A. (2016). 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