Plagiarism at Harvard

[Wahoo Redux]

There are levels of plagiarism, and levels of potential punishment for it, but Harvard's own www statement makes it clear that the conduct was plagiaristic, and would produce, ahem, negative consequences for even a first-semester frosh doing what Gay clearly did-- and doing it once, unlike Gay's serial plagiarism adventurism.   And in any case, does any school not punish unambiguous plagiarism at all?

It has produced punishment for Gay. The question is whether that punishment should be expanded to a lost faculty position.

The level of opprobrium and discipline far outstrip the crime of "duplicative language" in a dissertation written a quarter century ago.

[marshwiggle]

There are levels of plagiarism, and levels of potential punishment for it, but Harvard's own www statement makes it clear that the conduct was plagiaristic, and would produce, ahem, negative consequences for even a first-semester frosh doing what Gay clearly did-- and doing it once, unlike Gay's serial plagiarism adventurism.   And in any case, does any school not punish unambiguous plagiarism at all?

It has produced punishment for Gay. The question is whether that punishment should be expanded to a lost faculty position.

The level of opprobrium and discipline far outstrip the crime of "duplicative language" in a dissertation written a quarter century ago.

Were the standards for plagiarism lower then?

[Langue_doc]

John McWhorter, in his article "We Need a New Word for 'Plagiarism'", argues for distinguishing between "duplicative language" and plagiarism, the stealing of ideas.

The first few paragraphs from the article:

In December, a group of outside scholars appointed by a Harvard board was roundly criticized for describing the plagiarism that ultimately contributed to former President Claudine Gay's resignation as "duplicative language." This description was seen by many as an effort to minimize Gay's transgression. And it was. But I think the board was on to something useful nevertheless. The term "plagiarism" is overstretched.

Ironically, Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager who worked so hard to push Claudine Gay out of her job, would now seem to agree. In a twist so uncanny you couldn't have written it any better, Ackman's wife, Neri Oxman, a former M.I.T. professor, appears to have lifted chunks of her dissertation from other sources, including Wikipedia.

In the blink of an eye after these revelations, Ackman acquired an exquisite sensitivity to the difference between real plagiarism and the other, accidental-word-copying kind. Yet the difference he suddenly understands is one that anyone can. To think that neither Gay nor Oxman "really" plagiarized, or to believe that the sanction for such errors should be less severe, is an entirely reasonable point of view.

But here in this world, in this language, the term "plagiarism" still covers both "real" plagiarism — the theft of another person's ideas — and the use, perhaps inadvertent, of another person's language. For that reason, I continue to think Gay was correct to step down — especially given that Harvard, like many universities, explicitly defines plagiarism for undergraduates in the "old" way. If accidental cutting and pasting could theoretically get a sophomore suspended, repeated instances of the same should lead an administrator to step down. Meanwhile, given his support for the attacks on Gay, Ackman's defense of his wife is a hot mess: He should knock off the sputtering and just eat crow.

Leave it to a linguist to say this, but we need another word. In this case, we need a word for the relatively minor, "duplicative language" version of plagiarism.

To present someone else's ideas as one's own is unquestionably wrong, in academia and elsewhere. However, to cite boilerplate statements — the assumptions basic to a field, for instance — word for word, or close to it, without citing the person who typed the words originally is something different, and vastly less egregious. I would argue, in fact, that there may be nothing wrong with it at all, in particular when it is done accidentally.

[dismalist]

John McWhorter in all honor, but

... there may be nothing wrong with it at all, in particular when it is done accidentally

.

Sure. But not 40 - 50 accidents. As I said, that's a way of life.

[marshwiggle]

John McWhorter in all honor, but

... there may be nothing wrong with it at all, in particular when it is done accidentally

.

Sure. But not 40 - 50 accidents. As I said, that's a way of life.

And, as I understand it, there were paragraphs that were "duplicative; that's not like a phrase here and there.

I think "duplicative language" is to plagiarism what "alternative facts" is to lying.

[dismalist]

John McWhorter in all honor, but

... there may be nothing wrong with it at all, in particular when it is done accidentally

.

Sure. But not 40 - 50 accidents. As I said, that's a way of life.

And, as I understand it, there were paragraphs that were "duplicative; that's not like a phrase here and there.

I think "duplicative language" is to plagiarism what "alternative facts" is to lying.

"My truth" is the technical term. :-)

[Sun_Worshiper]

Things can be nuanced fellas. And we should be able to differentiate between different types of plagiarism, even as we are clear that all forms are bad (just as we do with lying).

[Wahoo Redux]

There are levels of plagiarism, and levels of potential punishment for it, but Harvard's own www statement makes it clear that the conduct was plagiaristic, and would produce, ahem, negative consequences for even a first-semester frosh doing what Gay clearly did-- and doing it once, unlike Gay's serial plagiarism adventurism.   And in any case, does any school not punish unambiguous plagiarism at all?

It has produced punishment for Gay. The question is whether that punishment should be expanded to a lost faculty position.

The level of opprobrium and discipline far outstrip the crime of "duplicative language" in a dissertation written a quarter century ago.

Were the standards for plagiarism lower then?

Not that I know of, but it would have been much more difficult to check without technology.  And even today, according to what I read, her writing is simply sloppy in regards to source-material and not really germane to her job as prez after 26 years of solid academic work.  We just live in knee-jerk intemperate times.

[marshwiggle]

Things can be nuanced fellas. And we should be able to differentiate between different types of plagiarism, even as we are clear that all forms are bad (just as we do with lying).

I have no problem with that from anyone who makes the same distinctions with students. I can't remember ever hearing any discussion of plagiarism at any university distinguishing it from "duplicative language", but I'd be fascinated to see the difference defined and explained with examples for undergraduates.

People on here who discuss plagiarism with students (and deal with it) are welcome to enlighten me.

[Wahoo Redux]

Things can be nuanced fellas. And we should be able to differentiate between different types of plagiarism, even as we are clear that all forms are bad (just as we do with lying).

I have no problem with that from anyone who makes the same distinctions with students. I can't remember ever hearing any discussion of plagiarism at any university distinguishing it from "duplicative language", but I'd be fascinated to see the difference defined and explained with examples for undergraduates.

People on here who discuss plagiarism with students (and deal with it) are welcome to enlighten me.

This is part of the handout I used to give to my students that I plagiarized from the Purdue Owl.  I am not sure they are using this anymore on the OWL website.

Original (from "Plagiarism."  Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.  2 Sep 2008.  1 Sep 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plagiarism&oldid=235682422>. Para 1.)
Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.

Plagiarized:

Plagiarism can be defined as the illegal use or imitation of the words and ideas of another author and the claiming of them as a writer's own.

Non-Plagiarized (basic):

Plagiarism is the "unauthorized use or close imitation" of the intellectual property (words, ideas, concepts, phrases, etc.) and the claim that this intellectual property is "one's own original work" ("Plagiarism" para. 1). 

Non-Plagiarized (advanced):

Plagiarism is the illegal and unacknowledged use of an author's intellectual property, which can be in the form of words, phrases, ideas, concepts, images, etc., and the false claim that that property is in fact the work of the plagiarizer.

The first example is straight-up plagiarism (the same words with maybe a single word substitution).

The second example is not plagiarized but could be the gray area plagiarism (uncomfortably close to the original, but experience indicates that many professors will overlook this sort of duplicative language) and is it really plagiarism?.  Probably not.

The third example is a true paraphrase.

Also, experience has taught me that many students cite their source like----

According to Professor Marshwiggle, duplicative language is to plagiarism what alternative facts is to lying.

----without quotation marks or a citation in a recognized style at the end of the sentence.

Technically, this could be considered plagiarism, but no one does because it is clearly a lazy student who probably wrote their paper in a hurry and is not truly trying to cheat.

P.S.---"duplicative language" is a new coinage as far as I know; I've never heard it used outside the Gay case, but perhaps I am just out of the loop.

[kaysixteen]

At least as serious a prob wrt Gay is the sheer amount of instances of plagiarism she chose to commit, all of which save that on her diss were committed whilst she was a PhD-possessing college professor.   Which honest professors did not get the jobs Gay has held, in order for her to have been able to cheat her way to academic success.  Do not let the door hit your ass on the way out.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Things can be nuanced fellas. And we should be able to differentiate between different types of plagiarism, even as we are clear that all forms are bad (just as we do with lying).

I have no problem with that from anyone who makes the same distinctions with students. I can't remember ever hearing any discussion of plagiarism at any university distinguishing it from "duplicative language", but I'd be fascinated to see the difference defined and explained with examples for undergraduates.

People on here who discuss plagiarism with students (and deal with it) are welcome to enlighten me.

I'm not endorsing the creation of a new category to be called "duplicative language." I'm just saying that there are degrees of bad behavior and those should correspond to the severity of the punishment.

[marshwiggle]

Also, experience has taught me that many students cite their source like----

According to Professor Marshwiggle, duplicative language is to plagiarism what alternative facts is to lying.

----without quotation marks or a citation in a recognized style at the end of the sentence.

Technically, this could be considered plagiarism, but no one does because it is clearly a lazy student who probably wrote their paper in a hurry and is not truly trying to cheat.

I don't see how that fits the definition of plagiarism, since it's clearly not trying to pass someone else's work as one's own. (Now, if whoever is evaluating the document has a separate criterion for evaluation regarding proper citations, this might violate it, but that's a different story.)

P.S.---"duplicative language" is a new coinage as far as I know; I've never heard it used outside the Gay case, but perhaps I am just out of the loop.

Just like "alternative facts"; it's a term that was invented as a way of sort-of kind-of admitting that there's a reason this gets peoples' attention, but since the accused person is from "our" tribe, it doesn't really deserve the criticism that it would if the "other" tribe did it, (because they'd be doing it for nefarious purposes.)

[Wahoo Redux]

Just like "alternative facts"; it's a term that was invented as a way of sort-of kind-of admitting that there's a reason this gets peoples' attention, but since the accused person is from "our" tribe, it doesn't really deserve the criticism that it would if the "other" tribe did it, (because they'd be doing it for nefarious purposes.)

You know who first uttered the phrase "alternative fact," right?  And you know the context, correct?

[marshwiggle]

Just like "alternative facts"; it's a term that was invented as a way of sort-of kind-of admitting that there's a reason this gets peoples' attention, but since the accused person is from "our" tribe, it doesn't really deserve the criticism that it would if the "other" tribe did it, (because they'd be doing it for nefarious purposes.)

You know who first uttered the phrase "alternative fact," right?  And you know the context, correct?

Absolutely. And it was a "new coinage", as you put it, for basically trying to downplay the significance of something that, if done by their opponents, they would have denounced as totally unacceptable.

When journalists or politicians in the past got identified as having used others' material as their own, they got identified as having plagiarised. Have you ever once prior to this case heard any explanation suggesting that this was somehow not plagiarism? "Duplicative language" is a weasel phrase to try and soften the criticism of someone who is not supposed to be criticized.

Honestly, if anybody has had information in their syllabus describing something like this (even without the term "duplicative language") and indicating that it's not a big deal, I'd be happy to see it. In fact, people on here have even complained about students' use of synonomizers as a way to avoid a charge of plagiarism, and debated whether there's some way to prove it and punish them for it.

Turnitin has, if I recall correctly, a minimum string length of 8 words for comparison, so short phrases of similar language won't get flagged. But the only way people repeat whole paragraphs verbatim other than copying is to have intentionally memorized them, such as scripts and poems.