Група «Плагіат» як сегмент антиплагіатного дискурсу
"Plagiarism" Facebook Group as a Segment of the Anti-Plagiarism Discourse

Summary/Abstract: The main objective of the study was a survey of documents and content posted in the “Plagiarism” open group on social network Facebook. The research tasks were the following: 1) to analyze the content of the newsfeed in the group and files published in it; 2) to classify posts in the group by type; 3) to define topics of discussions in the group; 4) to describe anti-plagiarism activities of the group members. Among the research methods, we used document analysis to analyse 1) articles (in order to determine the essence, characteristics, types of plagiarism) and 2) content published in the “Plagiarism” group (in order to define and classify posts by type and thematic scope as well as outline areas of anti-plagiarism activities of the group members). Grouping method was used for the ordered description of the different-type objects, such as some posts in the “Plagiarism” group. Analysis of the documents and the newsfeed content allowed making the following conclusions. 1. Fortythree documents published in the “Files” section refer to: a) upholding the principles of academic honesty, prevention of plagiarism and anti-plagiarism activities; b) development of the “Black List of Ukrainian Plagiarists” database; c) disclosure of information about committing plagiarism by certain persons; on the base of comparison test tables composed by E. Shestakova and T. Parkhomenko we have set up a register of academic plagiarism types; d) activities of the National Agency for Quality Assurance of Higher Education. 2. Posts on the newsfeed (2012-2017) were grouped according to the following criteria: 1) the subject of discussions (16 positions); 2) types of messages (13 positions). We outlined further activities of the group members: 1) detection of specific cases of plagiarism, disclosure of them, and efforts to punish the plagiarists; 2) analysis of specialized scientific periodicals for following the requirements of academic honesty and fight against the so-called “trash” journals; 3) preventing the spread of plagiarism. The work of active members of the “Plagiarism” group contributes to the formation of a specific online archive of materials primarily related to academic plagiarism. Information saved in the group can be used as empirical material for the theoretical generalizations and newsworthy event for mass media. All facts specified in the article indicate that the “Plagiarism” group is an essential segment of a social and communicative discourse that is inspired by the plagiarism expansion in all spheres of society life. The research of “Plagiarism” group content gives an opportunity to find out the most contradictory spheres of the plagiary discourse and to find the ways of overcoming the plagiary problem.

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