Chapter II

Ethical Considerations
Why is ethics the focus of a lead chapter in this book?
 Humanity has being struggling for a long time over
what constitutes good and evil and ethical and
unethical behavior.

 This chapter will provide an awareness of the ethical

dimensions of technical writing; In addition this
chapter will discuss two key areas of ethics in
technical writing, plagiarism and image alternation.

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What is ethics in Technical Writing?

 Ethics is a set of rules and standards for using
communication skills and resources with the intention of
doing good.
 Ethical behavior of technical writers involves their
moral duty and obligation to apply the power of
technical communications to the purpose of doing
worthy things.
 Ethics are important in everything, including
communication.
 A document can explain its purpose well, address its
audience correctly, and look very appealing.
 An unethical document puts the reader at a disadvantage,
not allowing him/her to make the best decision.
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A Technical Writer must

 Be accurate with his work.

 Be honest in his work. Does not write lies.

 Always honor his obligations. Finishes his work

and submit it as agreed on.

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A Technical Writer must not

X Substitute speculation for facts.

X Hide the truth with ambiguity.

X Use the ideas of others without giving proper credit.

X Violate copyright laws.

X Lie with statistics.

X Inject personal bias into his report.

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Ethics model for technical writers

Give credit
Be objective
Be factual

BE GOOD
Be accurate Be honorable
DO GOOD

Be truthful Be legal

Don’t deceive
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Chapter II
Plagiarism
 Is an act of theft in which one steals another’s idea or his
expression, work, images, sounds, photograph, etc., and
representing them as his own work.

 Plagiarism years ago cost more in time and money than it

was worth.

 The problem of plagiarism is growing primarily as a result

of the internet.

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Chapter II

Plagiarism includes:
 Using information from a source without
referencing it.

 Copying and pasting internet information without

citing the source.

 Using someone else’s

homework, reports, or sheets,
or buying papers or research
and turning it in as if you did
it yourself.

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Chapter II

If everybody is doing it, why shouldn’t I?

 You will not learn anything.

 It is not worth it.

 Imagine somebody doing it to you!

 Citing gives authority to information.

It is not ethical!
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Chapter II

Plagiarism Checker
 Counter-plagiarism websites such as www.turnitin.com and
www.plagiarism.com also provide effective resources to
help writers/publishers identify plagiarism.

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Chapter II

Tips to avoid plagiarism

 Stuff from the internet is not common knowledge
(unless it is really common knowledge).

 Avoid minor changes in wording from the source.

You must rewrite it in your own words.

 Reference everything you copy.

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Chapter II

Image Alternation and Ethics

 Without a doubt, digital signal processing lends
itself to misuse and alter the reality.

 The relative ease, availability, and effectiveness of

hardware (digital cameras, scanners, …) and
software (photoshop, .…) provide a powerful tool
for misrepresenting reality.

 This technology provides technical writers with

the means to modify images with the intent of
misleading the reader.

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Chapter II

 To avoid any ethical questions when you are using

altered images, always indicate to your reader that
the images are altered.

 If the image alternation has fundamentally

changed the information it represents, that fact
must be acknowledged.

 The easiest way is to acknowledge in the image’s

caption that it is, in fact, an edited image and then
briefly describe the nature and purpose of the
alternation.

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Chapter II
Image Composition Exercise
(Text book p. 21, 22)

Three separate source images taken at the Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, and a composite image
developed from them.
Photo 2.1 (a) shows the author’s wife, standing on the lava flow with many people in the
distance behind her.
Photo 2.1 (b) shows the author standing on another part of the lava flow with a young lady
visible behind him.
Photo 2.1 (c) shows a sign warning of the danger of lava bench collapse on the coast. A
location at some distance from where the first and second images where taken. 13
Chapter II

The shown photo combines the three source images. For the following three situations, is the
use of the composite image ethical? Why?
1- Use photo to complete their scrapbook of their trip, as the photo of them together didn’t
turn out.
2- Use photo to impress their friends and believe the composite photo might achieve that
purpose.
3- Use photo in Explorer’s Society as evidence that they gone where no one else would go. 14
Chapter II

Sample from students’ answers

Situation 1:
I believe the usage of the composite image in this
situation is ethical, since the author's personal scrapbook
is not something intended for publication or any form of
release to the public, but is mainly only intended for the
author and his wife in order to preserve the memory of
their trip together.

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Situation 2:
I believe this usage is not ethical. The author's friends will be led to
believe that the author and his wife have exposed themselves to
extreme danger by going beyond the point indicated by the sign,
when in fact they did not. The author and his wife are therefore
using a deceptive image with the intent to deceive, which is in no
way ethical. If, however, the author and his wife make it clear
while showing the image to their friends that they haven't actually
been beyond or near the point indicated by the sign, the friends will
no longer be deceived and the author & his wife will not longer be
deceptive, and that would make their usage of the image ethical.
Their friends may still be impressed by just the fact that the author
& his wife stood on a volcano.

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Situation 3:
This usage is not ethical. Removing all the other
people appearing in the photos and claiming that
they’ve gone where no one else has would be a
blatant lie. This usage cannot be made ethical but
correcting its misrepresentations, because that would
negate the whole premise of the situation.

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