Intellectual piracy in management research practices

Abstract

Abstract This essay presents the concept of Intellectual Piracy and its ethical-legal and formative consequences in the academic field of Administration. This is an essay on a practice identified by the authors but little discussed in academia. Intellectual piracy is a subtle form of plagiarism usually not identified by software. It is the practice of copying a theoretical systematization or idea produced by another person without citing it. This practice becomes evident not by copying words or phrases but by using a set of authors (even citations) used in another work as if the choices and theoretical systematization were original. Our contribution is to offer a concept capable of defining a practice of plagiarism that is not yet present in the literature on the subject in question. We conclude that intellectual piracy is an ethical-legal problem and a reflection of deficiencies in training researchers concerning aspects such as authorship, originality, theorization, and theory in scientific practice.