On plagiarism, paraphrasing, and other questionable practices (Andreas Ortmann, 2011_08_30) What do these four people have in common?

Focus on the young woman to the right !

Who they are: The first two: former political shooting stars in Germany (Guttenberg, Koch-Mehrin); the third is (Veronica Saß) the daughter of former Bavarian prime minister Edmund Stoiber ; the smiling guy in the picture below her and her parents is one of Europe’s best known economists (Bruno Frey, distinguished professor of economics at the University of Zurich in Switzerland) Guttenberg (with 37 minister of finance, with 38 minister of defense, generally considered to be likely candidate for chancellor of the Federal Republic): Resignation from office and had his doctoral title revoked, now living in the USA Koch-Mehrin: Resignation from key science committee of European Parliament (for time being still member of European Parliament): Had her doctoral title revoked Sass: Had her doctoral title revoked Frey: Publicly discredited (named and shamed) for a serious case of self-plagiarism (see below), there is now an attempt to use swarm intelligence to see whether there are other cases of self-plagiarism in his work (and it seems that there are plenty: http://www.econjobrumors.com/topic/for-olaf-summary-of-all-known-plagiarism-cases-involving-bruno-frey-aug-29-2011?replies=4#post-180041) (The following retrieved from the url above, in the morning of August 30, 2011) ==First reports of self-plagiarism and subsequent reprimand== In the spring and summer of 2011, several weblogs reported on a possible violation of academic integrity by Bruno Frey <ref>http://andrewgelman.com/2011/04/arrows_other_th/</ref><ref>http://economiclogic.blogspot.com/2011/04/on-ethics-of-research-cloning.html</ref> <ref>http://economicsintelligence.com/2011/07/07/a-summary-of-the-bruno-frey-affair/</ref> . Allegedly Bruno Frey, together with co-authors Benno Torgler and David Savage, submitted different versions of a paper on survival probabilities on the Titanic to several academic journals of economics without each of the papers citing the other ones. The editors of four academic journals went on to publish the articles. This form of [[self-plagiarism]] is considered unethical by the academic profession since this limits the possibilities of other scholars to contribute to the scientific debate while, if the duplication goes unnoticed, it adds to the academic reputation of the authors, whose academic status is generally measured by the number of publications and the reputation of the academic journals. Most academic journals let authors sign a statement to make sure parts of the work have not been published earlier and like many universities, the University of Zürich prohibits self-plagiarism by its employees. In a rare move, the editor of the [[Journal of Economic Perspectives]], [[David Autor]] published correspondence between him and Bruno Frey where he deplored the fact that Frey et al. had simultaneously submitted articles on the Titanic disaster to the Journal of Economic Perspectives, the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organizations and Rationality & Society, stating that “The [[American Economic Association]] does not intend to pursue legal action against you for violation of copyright. However, we find this matter ethically dubious and disrespectful to Association, the Journal of Economic Perspectives and the JEP ’s readers”. In a reply, Frey wrote “I have forwarded the letter to Benno Torgler and we well understand your very serious complaint and we both agree that you are right. It was a grave mistake on our part for which we deeply apologize. It should never have happened. This is deplorable. We both wish to emphasize that as senior researchers we take full responsibility” <ref>http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.25.3.239</ref>. A similar article had also been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The above a case of “self-plagiarism” ... below a case of plagiarism ...

Do you notice anything?

Plagiarism at UNSW (from the syllabus template):

5 ACADEMIC HONESTY AND PLAGIARISM The University regards plagiarism as a form of academic misconduct, and has very strict rules regarding plagiarism. For UNSW policies, penalties, and information to help you avoid plagiarism see: http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism/index.html as well as the guidelines in the online ELISE and ELISE Plus tutorials for all new UNSW students: http://info.library.unsw.edu.au/skills/tutorials/InfoSkills/index.htm. To see if you understand plagiarism, do this short quiz: http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism/plagquiz.html For information on how to acknowledge your sources and reference correctly, see: http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/ref.html For the ASB Harvard Referencing Guide, see the ASB Referencing and Plagiarism web page:http://www.asb.unsw.edu.au/learningandteaching/studentservices/resources/Pages/referencingandplagiarism.aspx

• In the School of Economics all cases of substantial plagiarism are reported to the Associate Head of School. The following penalties will apply:

• Reduction in marks for the assessment item, including zero; • Failure in the course [00FL] in extreme cases; • Other additional penalties in accordance with the UNSW Procedures for Dealing with Student

Plagiarism, may be considered in extreme cases; • All cases will be recorded on the UNSW Plagiarism Central Register

From: http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism/recognise_1.html

1 Can You Recognise Plagiarism?

1.1 Plagiarism in all its disguises: Common forms of plagiarism

Downloading an assignment from an online source and submitting it as your own work.

Buying, stealing or borrowing an assignment and submitting it as your own work.

Copying a section of a book, article or website and submitting it as your own work.

Copying, cutting and pasting text from an electronic source and submitting it as your own work.

Taking exact sentences or paragraphs from someone else (essay, article, book, lecture, web page, newspaper) without quotation marks and without proper acknowledgement. More

Using the exact words of someone else, with proper acknowledgement, but without quotation marks.More

Putting someone else's ideas into your own words and not acknowledging the source of the ideas.More

Using your own ideas, but with heavy reliance on phrases and sentences from someone else without acknowledgement. More

Relying too much on other people's material; that is, repeated use of long quotations (even with quotation marks and with proper acknowledgement). More

From: http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism/how.html

2 How Does Plagiarism Happen?

Plagiarism happens for a number of reasons—one is because some students decide consciously to gain credit for the work of others. However, most incidents of plagiarism are the product not of deliberate cheating, but of underdeveloped academic skills.

Plagiarism in these cases is a consequence of students' difficulties with the cluster of skills and states of mind needed to be successful in a tertiary learning environment. If you develop these skills your chances of being accused of plagiarism will be greatly reduced.

2.1.1 Problem 2.1.2 Solution

Intellectual insecurity: the 'use your own words' paradox

Find your own voice

Poor time management Learn to use your time effectively

Lack of a clear argument: not answering the question

Develop a clear argument

Lack of critical/ analytical skills

Asking questions and developing answers

Inadequate research Read and research more widely

Poor note-taking Develop note-taking systems

Poor referencing skills Learn how to acknowledge your sources

Underdeveloped writing skills Work to improve your writing

Cheating Don't do it!

An example of useful information on the UNSW site:

2.2 Poor Note-taking

2.2.1 The Problem

Many students plagiarise unintentionally when they take 'word-for-word' notes from a source and then simply reproduce them in their assignments.

2.2.2 The Solution

To make sure that you don't accidentally plagiarise, take notes carefully.

Develop a system to distinguish between what you have copied directly from a source, what you have noted in your own words, and your own comments about the material.

Taking notes is not just writing down the words/ ideas of others. You also need to record your own view of the material you are recording. Ask yourself:

o Why am I taking down this information?

o How am I going to use it?

o What relationship does this material have with other sources I have read?

o Do I understand what the writer is saying?

o If not, why not?

More about Notemaking Skills An Introduction to Note-taking Taking Effective Notes from Written Text Likewise ... do not have articles next to your key-board when you work on your own papers ...

Paraphrasing – make clear when you do it !

Retrieved August 30, 2011 from: http://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/plagiarism/plagiarism.pdf

The complete list of guidelines may also be found on pp. 41 – 44 of Dr. Roig’s article.