INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND

PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMICS

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• It is human need to yearn to acquire property,

whether of a tangible, intangible or invisible

nature.

• Everyone would want to be identified with his

/her own property which he guides jealously to

the exclusion of all others.

• It means that it will be wrongful for one person

to deal/interfer with another persons property

in such a manner that will be inconsistent with

the ownership rights of that other person.

• Such an interference is usually frowned against

leading to unsavoury consequences not desired

by anybody. We may pause to find out the real

meaning of intellectual property.

A. THE HUMAN FACTOR

WHAT IS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

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• Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such

as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and

symbols, formulations, names and images used in commerce.

• Ultimately, these creations and innovations are pushed into the

public domain for use by all. At this point, it becomes

imperative that an IP policy be put in place to regulate the

relationship between the creator and users.

• The policy will enable its holder to fully enjoy the benefit of

owning it and also balance the usual fragile relationship

between innovators and the wider public.

• A good IP system aims to foster an environment in which

creativity and innovation can flourish. A successful inventor

will not only earn recognition and financial benefits from what

he has created, the general public will be availed of his findings

.a win win situation for all.

TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

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There are four popular types namely Patents,

Trademarks, Trade Secrets and Copyrights.

1. Patents

• A patent grants property rights on an invention,

allowing the patent holder to exclude others from

making, selling, or using the invention.

• Inventions allow many businesses to be successful

because they develop new or better processes or

products that offer competitive advantage on the

marketplace.. A patent gives an inventor the right to

stop other people making or using their invention. If

someone makes or uses that invention without being

allowed to, the inventor can sue that person in court to

make them stop.

TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

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2. Trademarks

• A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design that

distinguishes the source of products (trademarks) or

services (service marks) of one business from its

competitors.

• It usually protects brand names and logos. In order to

qualify for patent protection, the mark must be

distinctive and clear.

• Nigeria operates a "first to file" system and our Trade

Marks Act grants the owner of a registered trademark

exclusive rights to use the trademark and protect it

from any form of infringement.

• This means that the first to register a trademark has

the right to prevent others from using an identical or

confusingly similar trademark for the same goods or

services or description of goods or services in respect

of which the first trademark was registered.

TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

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3. Trade Secrets

•A trade secret is a formula, process, device, or

other business information that companies keep

private to give them a business advantage over

their competitors. Most common examples of trade

secrets are food/drink formulae and customer lists.

•Unlike the other types of intellectual property, you

can't obtain protection by registering your trade

secret. Instead, protection lasts only as long as you

take the necessary steps to control disclosure and

use of the information.

•Businesses use nondisclosure agreements,

restricted access to confidential information, post-

employment restrictive covenants, and other

security practices to maintain trade

TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

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4. Copyrights

• Copyrights protect original works of authorship such as literary

works, music, dramatic works, pantomimes and choreographic

works, sculptural, pictorial, and graphic works, sound

recordings, artistic works, architectural works, and computer

software. With copyright protection, the holder has the

exclusive rights to modify, distribute, perform, create, display,

and copy the work.

• In order to qualify under copyright laws, the work must be

fixed in a tangible medium of expression, such as words on a

piece of paper or music notes written on a sheet. A copyright

exists from the moment the work gets created, so registration

is voluntary.

• In Nigeria, Copyright provides the assurance that authors,

artists, songwriters, music publishers, photographers and

other creators can share their work with the public without

the fear of unauthorized use. It covers book publishing,

photography, sound recording, broadcasting, film production

etc. and gives the creators the right to control the ways their

materials are used by others.

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM

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• An intellectual property in any form such as a patent, trademark,

trade secret or copyright which has been properly defined and

seised in one creator cannot be used by another in any manner

not desired by that owner. If this happens, then we enter the

realm of plagiarism.

• In simple terms, PLAGIARISM is the “stealing” of somebody else’s intellectual property or work as though it is your own without crediting the source. Though, it is quite possible to

plagiarize oneself; one thing that is undoubtedly clear is that

plagiarism is unethical especially in the academic world.

EXAMPLES OF PLAGIARISM

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The following are some examples of plagiarism

turning in someone else's work as your own

copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit

failing to put a quotation in quotation marks

giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation

changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source

without giving credit

copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the

majority of your work, whether you give credit or not .

As a matter of fact, plagiarism can take different forms as above

shown and many more ways. The trend has continued to be a

threat to academic research all over the world even with the

invention of anti-plagiarism tools, and it is more prevalent among

emerging scholars especially students.

TYPES OF PLAGIARISM

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1. Verbatim plagiarism (copy & paste)

• You commit verbatim plagiarism when you directly copy text from a

source and paste it into your own document without attribution. If the

structure and the majority of the words are the same as in the

original, then it is verbatim plagiarism, even if you delete or change a

couple of words here and there.

2. Mosaic plagiarism (patchwork plagiarism)

• Mosaic plagiarism (also known as patchwork plagiarism or

incremental plagiarism) means copying phrases, passages and ideas

from different sources and putting them together to create a new text.

This includes slightly rephrasing passages while keeping many of the

same words and structure as the original. This type of plagiarism

requires a little more effort and is more insidious than just copying

and pasting from a source.

1. Citing incorrectly

This is simply citing incorrect sources.

TYPES OF PLAGIARISM

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3. Citing incorrectly

This is simply citing incorrect sources.

4. Self-Plagiarism

This is plagiarizing your own work. That is reusing work that you’vepreviously submitted. Even though it’s your own work, it’s considered

dishonest to present a paper or a piece of data as brand new when you’vealready gotten credit for the work.

WHY DO PEOPLE PLAGIARISE

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• There are several reasons for this. In the academic

world, that is our own world, there exists the cliché:

• PUBLISH OR PERISH which has induced many

researchers to engage in the cankerworm called

plagiarism

• They plagiarize sometimes while reacting to severe

pressure to publish, desire for recognition, anxiety to

write in English, increased access to the internet and of

course, the ease of copy and paste.

• The instinct to plagiarise has also been linked to

laziness and dishonesty among scolars.

CONSCEQUENCES OF PLAGIARISM

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• The danger posed by plagiarism has made

it a global concern. It can ruin the life of

the perpetrator and even innocent lives

involved in the act such as a supervisor.

• It can also destroy the reputation of a

university or a research institution where

the act was perpetrated.

CONSCEQUENCES OF PLAGIARISM

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• Generally, some of its negative consequences have been

identified as follows:

1. Destroyed Student Reputation

2. Destroyed Professional Reputation

3. Destroyed Academic Reputation

4. Legal Repercussions

5. Monetary Repercussions

6. Extreme Consequences of Plagiarized

Research

1. Destroyed Student Reputation

Plagiarism allegations can cause a student to be

suspended or expelled. Their academic record can

reflect the ethics offense, possibly causing the

student to be barred from entering college from high

school or another college. Schools, colleges, and

universities take plagiarism very seriously. Most

educational institutions have academic integrity

committees who police students. Many schools

suspend students for their first violation. Students are

usually expelled for further offences.

2. Destroyed Professional Reputation

A professional business person, politician, or public figure may find that

the damage from plagiarism follows them for their entire career. Not

only will they likely be fired or asked to step down from their present

position, but they will surely find it difficult to obtain another

respectable job. Depending on the offense and the plagiarist’s public

stature, his or her name may become ruined, making any kind of

meaningful career impossible.

3. Destroyed Academic Reputation

The consequences of plagiarism have been widely reported in the world

of academia. Once scarred with plagiarism allegations, an academic’scareer can be ruined. Publishing is an integral part of a prestigious

academic career. To lose the ability to publish most likely means the end

of an academic position and a destroyed reputation.

4. Legal Repercussions

The legal repercussions of plagiarism can be quite serious. Copyright laws are

absolute. One cannot use another person’s material without citation and

reference. An author has the right to sue a plagiarist. Some plagiarism may also

be deemed a criminal offense, possibly leading to a prison sentence. Those who

write for a living, such as journalists or authors, are particularly susceptible to

plagiarism issues. Those who write frequently must be ever-vigilant not to err.

Writers are well-aware of copyright laws and ways to avoid plagiarism. As a

professional writer, to plagiarize is a serious ethical and perhaps legal issue.

5. Monetary Repercussions

Many recent news reports and articles have exposed plagiarism by journalists,

authors, public figures, and researchers. In the case where an author sues a

plagiarist, the author may be granted monetary restitution. In the case where a

journalist works for a magazine, newspaper or other publisher, or even if a

student is found plagiarizing in school, the offending plagiarist could have to pay

monetary penalties.

6. Extreme Consequences of Plagiarized Research

Plagiarized research is an especially egregious form of plagiarism. If the

research is medical in nature, the consequences of plagiarism could mean the

loss of peoples’ lives. This kind of plagiarism is particularly heinous.

The consequences of plagiarism are far-reaching and no one is immune.

Neither ignorance nor stature excuses a person from the ethical and legal

ramifications of committing plagiarism. Before attempting any writing

project, learn about plagiarism. Find out what constitutes plagiarism and how

to avoid it. The rules are easy to understand and follow. If there is any

question about missing attribution, try using an online plagiarism checker or

plagiarism detection software to check your writing for plagiarism before

turning it in.

With this in mind, it is very critical for developing nations like Nigeria to take

the bull by the horn in addressing this menace because where plagiarism

thrives, innovation takes the back seat.

ANTI PLAGIARISM

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Having noted some of the harmful effects of plagiarism, it is now

trite to advocate the culture of anti-plagiarism which must be

imbibed by all writers, creators and/or researchers.

1. Several schemes, plagiarism detection softwares and/or

online checkers are being used by different institutions to fight

the menace of plagiarism. In most institutions, global best

practices are employed to peg the percentage of allowable

plagiarism at 10%. Some other institutions have adopted such

scales as 20%-80%, 30%-70% and 40%-60% respectively.

Whichever percentage is favoured by any institution, it is

important to note that the lower the percentage of allowable

plagiarism, the higher the quality of the research which in the

long term will improve the standing of the researcher and his

institution globally.

ANTI PLAGIARISM

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2. Institutions are enjoined to adopt the practice of inculcating the

fear of plagiarism in the minds of students. At an early stage,

lecturers should endeavour to reject or score low any material

with the slightest touch of plagiarism. So, by dealing with this

early, students would have been well prepared for the nitty-gritty

of research.

3. Furthermore, postgraduate schools in Nigerian universities

must include in their curriculum a mandatory course on research

publication which will be taught by erudite scholars and would

have modules such as referencing and citation, manuscript

drafting etc. This would improve the standard of works and

productivity by postgraduate students who are young

researchers.

ANTI PLAGIARISM

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4. Lastly, to win this fight, the syndrome of publishing or perish

must be matched with quality and not quantity. As we have

stated earlier, one of the pull factors for plagiarism is the need

to publish a certain amount of journal articles for promotion in

Nigeria which has made desperate academicians engage in

things like ghost publication, guest authors, and to the extent of

cloning! However, if much emphasis is placed on quality

publication i.e impact of the scholarly work on the society and

also, on the success rate of students taught by an academic,

there would be a reduction in the desperation of academic to

publish by all means.

CONCLUSION

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Intellectual property is the original idea of its

creator and stringent rules and procedures

ought to be put in place for its protection.

Plagiarism in any form is bad and can be

likened to cancer. The earlier it is dealt with,

the better for Nigeria to transform research

works into societal benefits

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

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