Search Results for: plagiarism

Publisher sets high bar: Only articles “with lowest plagiarism” will be accepted

Maybe you can be a little bit pregnant after all. At least, that’s what the editors of the Journal of Innovations in Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences would have submitters believe. In a rather ham-handed invitation to authors received by a friend of Retraction Watch, the open-access journal “cordially” solicits papers with a helpful illustrated timeline … Continue reading Publisher sets high bar: Only articles “with lowest plagiarism” will be accepted

Weekend reads: Senator loses degree for plagiarism; bad colitis poetry; fraud on the big screen

The week at Retraction Watch featured papers by a fake author with a brilliant if profane name, and the unmasking of fraudster Diederik Stapel as a sock puppet. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Blatant plagiarism sinks paper (and earns a sabbatical!) for mathematician

You know it’s a good one when it makes it onto the Wikipedia page for “scientific misconduct.” On April 21, the International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics retracted two 2008 papers by scientist Alexander Spivak of Holon Institute of Technology in Israel. In September, the journal updated the notice to explain why: The papers both … Continue reading Blatant plagiarism sinks paper (and earns a sabbatical!) for mathematician

Author of alcohol paper retracted for plagiarism defends copy-and-paste strategy

The authors of a paper retracted for plagiarism of a popular website have decided not to take the charges — which they don’t contest — lying down. Here’s the notice for “Alcohol consumption and hormonal alterations related to muscle hypertrophy: a review,” which appeared in Nutrition & Metabolism, a BioMed Central title:

Economics paper retracted for plagiarism after citing its twin

As we’ve pointed out before, economics and business journals have few retractions compared with the other academic literature. Opinions vary on why this is, but the fact that only a few journals have plagiarism policies can’t help. Research Papers in Economics, or RePEc, an organization that maintains a database of economics papers, however, thoroughly investigates … Continue reading Economics paper retracted for plagiarism after citing its twin

Montenegro’s science minister accused of plagiarism

Sanja Vlahovic, science minister of Montenegro, copied two-thirds of a 2010 paper on tourism from previously published work by other academics, according to the national daily newspaper Vijesti. The newspaper compared her paper, “Destinations’ Competitiveness in Modern Tourism,” presented at the Tourism & Hospitality Management 2010 conference in Opatija, Croatia, to three previously published papers … Continue reading Montenegro’s science minister accused of plagiarism

Dissertation in transition: Plagiarism leads to delisting of education thesis, lost PhD

The author of a doctoral dissertation on veterans education has lost the paper — and a mention of the work in a roster of theses — because he lifted text from a previously published dissertation from a student at another institution. Here’s the notice:

Journal that “suffered” from plagiarism purges itself

When Pharmacy Practice found out it had been victimized by plagiarists, it apparently took the news personally — and to heart. In an elaborate statement with more than a dozen references — but not one to the plagiarizing work — the journal lashed out against the behavior of word thieves, and described the discovery as … Continue reading Journal that “suffered” from plagiarism purges itself

Mistaken punctuation, misreferencing, and other euphemisms for plagiarism

It’s always amusing to see how far a journal will bend over backward to avoid coming out and calling something “plagiarism.” We’ve got two notices for you that exemplify the phenomenon, which we discussed in our Lab Times column last year. The first, an article about apartheid, was presented at a student conference and published in the Polyvocia: … Continue reading Mistaken punctuation, misreferencing, and other euphemisms for plagiarism

The tell-tale heart: Cardiovascular surgeons notch two retractions for plagiarism

Sometimes plagiarism can be tricky to catch when an article has to be translated before publication. That seems to be the case for two papers out of a hospital in Canakkale, Turkey, that discussed results of two different kinds of heart surgery. Here’s the retraction notice for “The effects of 21 and 23 milimeter aortic valve … Continue reading The tell-tale heart: Cardiovascular surgeons notch two retractions for plagiarism