The idea of collaborative science, and of appropriate attribution to previous work, vary greatly from culture to culture. In some cultures, the reference to another researcher’s concepts must be cited even when not quoting a previously published work directly. In other cultures, copying entire sections of another’s work and incorporating them into one’s own is an acceptable way of demonstrating the influence of that prior work. While globally publishers have established their own best practices as to what constitutes plagiarism, not all emerging regions share the same understanding. Being able to quickly identify potential plagiarism and its likely cause—cultural practices.
