Credit Where Credit Is Due: Respecting Authorship and Intellectual Property Downloaded from pubs.acs.org by UNIV OF LOUISIANA AT LAFAYETTE on 01/05/19. For personal use only.
Chapter 8
Case Study: Authorship Issues and Conflict in the U.S. Academic Chemical Community Jeffrey Kovac Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, United States *E-mail:
[email protected].
This case raises the issue of plagiarism. A chemist has published an article in which he has copied sections of previously published articles without quotation or attribution. This case can be used to clarify what plagiarism is, how it can be detected, and the consequences of committing this unethical action.
Familiar Words Dr. Isabel Simpson, an assistant professor at Small State University, was scanning the table of contents of a leading journal of organic chemistry when she noticed an article by Professor Sam Darrow, an up-and-coming synthetic chemist, that was quite relevant to her current research. She immediately saw how the elegant synthetic methodology could be used in a synthesis that her current graduate student was attempting, but, as she continued to read, she was certain that she had read some of the sentences, and even whole paragraphs, before, although she did not remember where. She found it hard to believe that Darrow had committed plagiarism, but the words just seemed too familiar. Over the next several days, the suspicion nagged at Isabel, and she began looking at related articles. After scanning about 20, she found the one she remembered. Reading it, she realized that Darrow had copied several whole paragraphs, as well as some individual sentences, in his paper. Although articles submitted for publication are routinely checked for plagiarism, this instance apparently had not been detected. She went back to Darrow’s article to look for a reference to this paper but did not find one. She now had proof of her suspicion. What should she do?
© 2018 American Chemical Society
1.
2 3. 4. 5.
Should Isabel contact Professor Darrow directly with her evidence of his plagiarism? If so, how should she do that: an e-mail, a phone call, or a letter? Alternatively, should she contact the chair of his department or someone else at his university to discuss the situation? Should she contact the editor of the journal in which the article was published? Before doing anything, should she consult with an ethics officer at her university or a senior colleague to explore options? Is this really a serious matter? Perhaps Isabel should just do nothing. After all, the science seemed right and a few plagiarized words did not make the paper any less useful. It is easier not to make trouble.
84
