Why You Must Not Copy Someone Else's Research
Why You Must Not Copy Someone Else’s Research
Two reasons
- Plagiarism is academic dishonesty. Universities can fail or expel you for it.
- Context shapes everything. A strategy that worked in one school may fail in another.
The honest path
Read other studies for ideas. Adapt the design to your own classroom. Run your study, not theirs.
The short rule
Borrow the idea. Build your own study.
Why You Must Not Copy Someone Else’s Research
This question has two correct answers. You should give both.
Plagiarism
Copying someone else’s research, design, or words is academic dishonesty. It is forbidden under any university’s honor code. It is also unfair to the original researcher whose work you are taking. Plagiarism is grounds for failing a course or being expelled from a degree program.
Context
This is the deeper reason. Even if there were no rules against copying, copying would still fail.
A strategy that worked beautifully in one school may not work in yours. A study done in a school with one set of resources and community conditions will not transfer cleanly to a school with very different ones. A study done in a wealthy urban school will not transfer cleanly to a low-income rural school. A study with thirty students in a small class will not work the same way with sixty students. A study run by a senior teacher will not produce the same result when a fresh graduate runs it.
Context shapes everything. The students, the language they speak at home, the time of year, the textbook in use, the principal’s policies, the parents, the building. None of those are the same across two schools.
The honest researcher reads other studies for ideas. She adapts the design to her own classroom. She runs her study, not theirs.
A short rule
Borrow the idea. Build your own study.
Keep this short rule in mind as you plan your own work.
