In the presented scenario, Ahmad’s actions can be considered wrong due to indicating an ethical issue. In particular, Ahmad has violated three principles of research ethics: respect of intellectual property, honesty, and integrity (“Ethical issues,” n.d.). First, respect of intellectual property prohibits individuals from any kind of plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, which is the reuse of one’s own research (“Ethical issues,” n.d.). Second, the principle of honesty mandates that a scholar must not deceive colleagues or the public (“Ethical issues,” n.d.). Third, integrity proposes that a person must keep their promises and agreements (“Ethical issues,” n.d.). Accordingly, Ahmad has disobeyed respect of intellectual property by making changes to one of his previously submitted assignments and presenting the modified work as a new one. As a result, he has deceived his peers and his professor, which disregards honesty, and broke an unspoken promise of conducting original analysis for each of his classes. Consequently, Ahmad has committed abuses of intentional plagiarism and self-plagiarism (“Ethical issues,” n.d.). Therefore, the situation is unethical due to Ahmad violating three principles of research ethics.
Furthermore, although Ahmad has acted unethically, there is a remedy to the problem. The student could have followed the principles of ethical research that he had breached. As mentioned above, honesty calls for scholars not to lie, and integrity encourages people to act with sincerity (“Ethical issues,” n.d.). Accordingly, Ahmad should explain the situation to his professor, admit that he had committed self-plagiarism, and receive appropriate punishment. Being found guilty of misconduct presents substantial threats to one’s career, yet not acknowledging the wrongdoing is likely to have more serious consequences (“Ethical issues,” n.d.). Therefore, Ahmad should show regret for plagiarizing the assignment and hope that his instructor would understand.
Reference
Ethical issues in research. (n.d.). [PowerPoint Slides].