A STUDY ON INVESTIGATING ETHICAL REASONING AND IPR LITERACY IN DIGITAL ACADEMIC PRACTICES

Abstract

In the evolving digital landscape of higher education, the boundaries between intellectual ownership, digital reuse, and ethical inspiration are increasingly blurred. This study investigates how students perceive digital plagiarism, interpret copyright norms, and distinguish between ethical and unethical academic practices. Leveraging scenario-based ethical dilemmas and quantitative methods, the research explores students' cognitive frameworks surrounding content creation, reuse, and citation in academic settings.

The study analyses generational and disciplinary variances in moral reasoning using non-parametric tests including Kruskal-Wallis and Friedman, revealing nuanced insights into ethical ambiguity within academic ecosystems. The study examines the relationship between students' IPR awareness levels and their ethical reasoning responses across plagiarism scenarios involving AI-generated content. Using the Kruskal-Wallis test, we explore variations in scores based on generational identity, academic discipline, and exposure to formal IPR education. The primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire from 122 academic stakeholders including students, PhD Scholars and Faculties from different disciplines in Bengaluru city. Results highlight gaps in IPR literacy and underscore the influence of institutional policies, peer norms, and pedagogical practices on student behaviour. The findings propose an integrative model to enhance ethical awareness, encouraging a shift from punitive measures to proactive ethics education through immersive and gamified approaches.

This research contributes to the discourse on academic integrity, offering practical implications for curriculum design, copyright sensitization, and the development of equitable assessment frameworks that foster responsible inspiration without penalizing creativity.