23/12/2016

How can we guard against plagiarism in scientific publishing? - IEEE AuthorLab | IEEE Collabratec

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Tiffany McKerahan asked

Moderator

How can we guard against plagiarism in scientic publishing?

15 days ago

Yet anotheraccusation of serial plagiarism (http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/12/popularfrench-physicist-accused-plagiarizing-colleagues-and-famous-writers) in scientic publishing has

surfaced, this time directed at prominent French physicist and popular science writer tienne Klein.
https://ieee-collabratec.ieee.org/app/question/75445

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23/12/2016

How can we guard against plagiarism in scientific publishing? - IEEE AuthorLab | IEEE Collabratec

It seems that this type of incident is happening more frequently in recent years despite the use of
deterrents such as plagiarism detection software and increasingly tough consequences for
plagiarists.
What can we do to guard against plagiarism in the scientic record? How can we educate and
encourage students and peers to observe proper reuse and citation guidelines?

Tags: Publishing

Publishing > Plagiarism

Ethics

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Answers - 4
S Claassen answered
12 days ago

If we specifically enumerate the problems we have with plagiarism, this would probably amount to:
the failure of authors to perform sufficient due diligence with respect to a specific domain in question;
the failure of authors to perform a thorough enough search for prior art in following up all possible leads.
Unless the relevant discoveries/principals/methods/techniques/insights (or what have you) were (almost) conducted
simultaneously or were arrived at independently, we might surely suspect plagiarism. (The case of arriving
independently at a similar conclusion along similar lines of reasoning by a successor would award the discovery to
his/her predecessor and leave the successor guilty of plagiarism.) However, given the enormity of (internet-related)
content published or made public, there might be a distinction between committing plagiarism and committing
unintended (cf. non-malicious) plagiarism.

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In the case of tienne Klein, whose work comprised not only physics but also philosophical and cosmological inquiries
as well, it might indeed be true that folks like mile Zola, Stefan Zweig and Cohen-Tannoudji were "internalized" in his
discourse. However, citing his sources would have saved him a lot of trouble.
With regard to publications refereed by peers and Douglas Verret's including the readers as being counterintuitive, it
would be hard to dismiss the workings of a target group in generally lending credence to a publication and I do believe
that most of our accusations of plagarism will emanate from the readership.
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How can we guard against plagiarism in scientific publishing? - IEEE AuthorLab | IEEE Collabratec

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Tiffany Mckerahan

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10 days ago

Hi @S Claassen (/app/p/SClaassen1620), thanks very much indeed for your thorough reply. I completely agree
with your points, especially as regards the importance of readers in identifying potential plagiarism. Plagiarism
detection software is a useful tool but is not foolproof; human eyes and brains are still needed to identify the
instances that make it past the software.

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Constantin Dumitrescu answered

14 days ago

A language & domain specic IP trading platform to intermediate clean authors and publishers.
Apparently, the carbon emissions trading platform(s) are an ideal match. They cut through some
"smoke industries" around.
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Tiffany Mckerahan

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14 days ago

Hi @Constantin Dumitrescu (/app/p/ConstantinDumitrescu77536), thanks for your input. It's an interesting

idea but I would worry that an enterprising plagiarist would sneak in and then the system would be ruined.
Constantin Dumitrescu

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13 days ago

Plagiarism is an enterprise.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_emission_trading#cite_note-goldemberg-1)
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Douglas Verret answered

14 days ago

It comes down to editors and reviewers, as it always has. Tools that check in an automated fashion
help but are not infallible. The purpose they serve is to ag possible pliarism which then needs
follow up by reviewers and editors. Not all submissions are checked, thus it would help if the tools
were fast and cheap which would permit an automated check of all submissions. The challenge
involves a trade-off between speed and the size of the database against which a submission is
checked. The larger and more comprehensive the database, the longer it takes to run a check. Add
to that the rise of "fake" publishers who have a server but little else. If you pay the fee, you are
published with no peer review involved.

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23/12/2016

How can we guard against plagiarism in scientific publishing? - IEEE AuthorLab | IEEE Collabratec

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, some of the responsiblity rests with readers or subscribers.
Much of the problem would subside if readers stuck to reputable publishers with quality as their
brand. On the other hand if readers are indifferent to the source then overcoming the burgeoning
of plairized papers will continue to be a big challenge.
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Douglas Verret

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14 days ago

Excuse the misspelling of "plagiarism" in my comment. Apologies for not checking before submitting.
Tiffany Mckerahan

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14 days ago

Hi @Douglas Verret (/app/p/DouglasVerret11523), thanks for your input. I totally agree. However I do think that
education is a big part of it too. In my experience many instances of plagiarism were not malicious; the author
simply didn't know the rules. Of course this is most prevalent among young authors but more experienced
authors sometimes need refreshers as well.

Douglas Verret

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14 days ago

Tiffany, in my experience as an Editor-in-Chief for eleven years I found that almost all cases were deliberate,
though maybe not malicious.. A majority originated from China. I suppose you could argue that publication
standards in China are different than everywhere else in the West, the Orient and the Levant and that Chinese
authors need some education about acceptable publication practices. On the other hand, there were some
excellent papers originating from China as well. This makes me wonder if this is really an awareness problem only.

Tiffany Mckerahan

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14 days ago

Thanks for sharing your extensive experience, @Douglas Verret (/app/p/DouglasVerret11523). The case of
plagiarism in China is interesting because of cultural differences. In traditional Chinese scholarship It's
considered normal and a mark of respect to reuse someone else's text without attribution. See for example
timeshighereducation.co.. (https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/cultural-insight-can-help-tackleplagiarism/401564.article).

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Brenda Huettner answered

15 days ago

Plagiarism isn't new, but the tools that enable it are. If the increasingly tough consequences aren't
working, maybe we need to look at incentives rather than punishments. For example, students using
proper citations could improve their grades in some kind of extra credit capacity, or gure out a
reward structure for peers who report veried plagiarism.

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How can we guard against plagiarism in scientific publishing? - IEEE AuthorLab | IEEE Collabratec

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Tiffany Mckerahan

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14 days ago

Hi Brenda, thanks for your input. I agree that we may need to start looking at incentives to help students x the
rules more rmly in their minds.
Douglas Nix

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10 days ago

The thing is, this problem isn't limited to students. We're taking about degrees researchers and academics. We
had a case here in Canada where the lead educator at one of Canada's largest school boards was discovered to
be a serial plagiarist. It was so bad, he lost his job, his teaching certication, and his degree.
So, while the problem may start when people are students, it often carries on into their later careers. I think we
need to apply some human factors thinkingbto this problem and ask ourselves what motivates these actions,
and what systemic issues exist that create the conditions where this error becomes normalized?

Tiffany Mckerahan

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10 days ago

Excellent points, @Douglas Nix (/app/p/DouglasNix2966). The increasing focus on "publish or perish" is
certainly a major factor in the number and severity of plagiarism cases. There will always be a temptation to cut
corners when key achievements such as tenure and grants are tied to how many publications an author can
produce. This incentive system is deeply embedded in academia and would be very dicult to change. Perhaps
institutions could start with small steps such as including additional activities in a researcher's evaluation;
reviewing articles, serving on journal editorial boards, and creating and curating data could all become part of a
larger view into an individual's activities in their research eld.

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