Anti Plagiarism Social Movement
The news about the widespread practice of plagiarism of scientific work in universities with a quantity up to 100 lecturers with the purpose to carry out promotions from the lector, head lector to professor level is something that is both concerning and heart breaking in the context of the future of higher education in Indonesia. However a university which incidentally is an institution that prints the nation’s next generation and is expected to produce true intellectuals both in terms of knowledge and integrity that has been tainted by acts of plagiarism committed by lecturers as educators in universities.
Therefore, it is common when there is an act of plagiarism in such a way, it should begin to reflect on how this nation responds to the rampant acts of plagiarism.
Plagiarism and Dishonesty
Plagiarism is a term that is very well known among scientists and intellectuals. The term plagiarism actually refers to an act in the context of making scientific work that does not pay attention to the rules and ethics of writing scientific papers. For example, citing people’s opinions without mentioning the source. Meanwhile, people who commit acts of plagiarism are often called plagiarists.
There is a relationship between plagiarism and the morality of this nation. The practice of plagiarism among scientists and intellectuals is basically an act that is considered unethical/immoral. The concrete form of this immoral act is represented in terms of the dishonesty of scientists or intellectuals for the knowledge they develop.
If we pay attention to the form of dishonesty, it is a moral basis that is now very rare to find in Indonesia. It seems that in this country it is very difficult to find honest people than to find smart people. Therefore, it becomes a serious problem when this act of plagiarism continues to escalate in Indonesia. However, it becomes serious problem because it is believed that the widespread dishonesty of educators/lecturers in making scientific works will have a further impact on other dishonesty in the development of education in Indonesia. As a result, it is not surprising that the quality of the integrity of education is currently very low.
So, it is not surprising that in the practice of everyday life, almost most of the Indonesian people, along with the administration of the government, live their lives full of pretense if it is not said that they live with full of dishonesty. The closest example today, can be seen in the case of the arrest of the chairman of the Constitutional Court, where he was a doctor who was later caught red-handed by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). In fact, previously he seemed fierce with the symptoms of corruption in Indonesia. This is a fact that we cannot ignore.
Anti Plagiarism Social Movement
Seeing the implications of plagiarism for the future of this very dangerous nation, the government and other related institutions, such as educational institutions should seriously take strategic steps to eliminate the act of plagiarism itself. At least the act of plagiarism can be suppressed in such a way.
One thing that needs to be done in this context is to make the anti-plagiarism movement as social movement. The anti-plagiarism social movement is an extension of the legal movement and is the embodiment of strategic steps in suppressing plagiarism itself. The intended social movement is to invite all components of this nation to agree to say no to all forms of plagiarism.
It is expected that with this kind of social movement, social sanctions will be able to intensify legal sanctions. However, these two sanctions can be used as effective means going forward to preventing plagiarism which has become the source of this nation’s moral depravity. In addition, with the existence of these two kinds of sanctions, it is expected that Indonesia can truly realize the commitment of the founding fathers of this nation, specifically the intellectual life of the nation and the welfare of the Indonesian people.
Prof. Dr. Budi Agus Riswandi, S.H., M.Hum.
Director of Intellectual Property Rights Center
Faculty of Law UII Yogyakarta
