Thursday, June 01, 2006

Who is accountable for plagiarism?

Today in Inside Higher Ed, there is an article about plagiarism at Ohio U among many graduate students in mechanical engineering and it appears that the faculty involved as mentors or advisors were dealt with more harshly than the students who were dishonest. Many commenters believe the students should have received harsher punishments. You can read the many comments at Inside Higher Ed, but it prompts many questions for me...

1) How could students be proud of their work if they are copying 20 pages word-for-word from previous students' theses?
2) Wouldn't a professor remember 20 pages worth of similar content?
3) How many of these professors have plagiarized themselves?

If those professors condoned and even encouraged this type of behavior, is it logical to assume that they might have engaged in it as well?

It is a slippery slope.

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