As students, we constantly hear about ethical situations. “Don’t download music illegally.” “Don’t copy your homework.” “Make sure to cite your sources.” We’re all expected to know Purdue’s policies on academic dishonesty and follow them accordingly. Furthermore, there are classes in our curriculums that cover professional ethics, so most of the information in this chapter wasn’t exactly new to me.
With regard to our white paper project, I think that plagiarism could be an issue if people forget to cite their work. It doesn’t take much to cite a source, and a reliable one can even improve a writer’s credibility. For this project, I doubt that anybody would want to try and present somebody else’s unique ideas as their own, so I doubt that any plagiarism will be intentional. I usually try to cite as much information as I can, just to be on the safe side.
I think it’s also important that we present information as the original author(s) intended. As TH explained, writers have to be careful when summarizing or paraphrasing because different wording can easily misrepresent or distort credible information. I think this coincides with the ethics presented in TCT because it’s a writer’s moral obligation to provide accurate information to the audience. While working on this project, we need to make sure that we don’t reword anything inaccurately, as it could drastically change a reader’s opinion of a product or technology.
As for conservation ethics, it sounds like it’s also our obligation as writers to address the environmental impacts of the products we research. It reminds me of a study done on the Toyota Prius, which many of you may already be aware of. Somebody once claimed that the manufacturing process for the Prius actually had more of a negative impact on the environment than a Hummer. I don’t know whether it turned out to be true or not, but depending on your white paper topic, you may want to consider the environmental impact of using, creating, or disposing of certain products or technologies.
Paraphrasing R14
I also think that summarizing and paraphrasing “coincides with the ethics presented in TCT because it’s a writer’s moral obligation to provide accurate information to the audience.” It even seems to me like a double edged sword if you inaccurately do so. Not only are you misinforming or confusing your audience but you would also be tarnishing the name of the author that you paraphrased because the readers would think that this confusing or wrong info originated there. Giving this kind of bad press to an author would be unethical so when summarizing I think it is best to tell your readers that you are doing so and definitely go over it more than once to make sure that it makes sense.
Shane
Good point
I think you make a really interesting point about inaccurately paraphrasing information in our white papers. I don't think many people consider that they're misrepresenting the author when they cite correctly but paraphrase incorrectly. There are issues when this could be a huge problem in something that gets published and has legal ramifications, or ends up seeming as though someone slandered or defamed an organization or person, etc.
I think it's also important to realize that how we use a source can have some of the same consequences. A few groups are dealing with a controversial issues where, if information is paraphrased incorrectly and the white paper was published, it could anger a source by making it seem as though they supported an issue/solution when they don't (for example).
Kristin
Interesting point
I think you bring up a good point, that when paraphrasing another authors work, we probably all assume that we are getting the same point across. I think this is when working in a group will be very beneficial. It will provide us with many chances for others in our group to potentially read over what we have paraphrased. Then as long as our group members have gotten the same information from what we have written as what the original author intended, we can know we did a good job paraphrasing it. If they don't understand it or think it means something different from what we meant to get across, I think I would consider quoting it and then citing the source instead of trying to paraphrase
Patrick Griffin
pgriffin@purdue.edu