Research Ethics Series

The urgency of doing complements the urgency of knowing. Urgency here is not the inconsequential injunction of irrational immediacy. It arises in various contexts for good reasons, when there is a threat to the human existence and harms to others. Today, our knowledge based civilization is at risk both by new production models of knowledge and by the shamelessness of knowledge delinquents, exposing the greatest number to important risks. Swiftly, the editors respond to the diagnostic by setting up a reference tool for academic integrity. Across multiple dialogues between the twenty-five chapters and five major themes, the ethical response shapes pragmatic horizons for action, on a range of disciplinary competencies: from science to international diplomacy. An interdisciplinary work indispensable for teachers, students, university researchers and administrators.

With the proliferation of the Internet, overcoming plagiarism seems insurmountable for students, teachers and researchers, who tend to find little choice between academia and the law in this regard. With a multidisciplinary approach and twenty years of expertise and research on this topic, Prof. Bergadaà proposes a concrete methodology for addressing this issue, both for the plagiarised and plagiariser, as well as for the institutions and associations. Researchers, students, directors of journals and institutions, as well as other actors in the scientific arena such as policy makers and lawyers are all concerned with preserving the value of integrity at the core of research ethics.