iThenticate Blog

The blog, TechDirt, recently published an article titled, “Is Policing Plagiarism at A University As Counterproductive As Trying To Stop Copyright Infringement?”  The article postulates that creating a learning environment based on discovering plagiarism and punishing the culprits can backfire by producing a fearful and ineffective classroom atmosphere.   The author likens this to the back-and-forth battle over copyright infringement between companies and users that often leaves both sides with a bad taste in their mouth; this type of ongoing battle can stifle creativity with an ‘angry us-vs.-them world.’

The practice of commissioning an anonymous writer, or ghostwriter, to do one’s writing has been employed for a number of famous books and papers in the past, including official presidential biographies.  Examples of ghostwriting exist in almost every field – from politics to literature to scientific research.  Ghostwriting is an industry of its own; thousands of people make their living every year by writing anonymously.  Although ghostwriting has been historically accepted, it has been undergoing some criticism recently that it is considered a form of plagiarism.

Senator John Kerry recently made some very controversial statements when speaking on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” segment.

Journalism is a profession that is currently in a major state of flux.  It’s not hard to see this - just take a look at any major news outlet.  Turn on CNN and you’ll see more Facebook profiles and Twitter handles than you would at a social media tradeshow.  Open the New York Times and everyday you’ll see an increasingly heavier push towards digital subscriptions.

Marc Hauser, a prominent Harvard psychology professor, recently resigned after being found guilty of scientific research misconduct. Hauser was renowned in the field of evolutionary biology, particularly in regards to his research with animal cognition and neuro-development. His ground-breaking work had previously been featured across numerous scientific publications, books, news articles and television programs.

Laura Miller from Salon recently penned a very enlightening article about the proliferation of ‘E-Book Spam,’ specifically on Amazon’s Kindle E-Reader. Although E-Books are still a relatively new form of content consumption, the medium is already facing the same spam problems that blogs and online publishers have battled with for more than a decade.

The past decade has seen a scary increase in the number research paper retractions. The Journal of Medical Ethics published a study last year that examined close to eight hundred retracted research papers.

One thing often said about rumors or slander is that once the information is leaked, it’s out permanently. In other words, even if a rumor is proven to be completely false, the information still exists in the minds of all the people who already heard it.

It might sound like some sort of league of superheroes, but not everyone is keen on the so called ‘plagiarism hunters.’