Plagiarism and Privacy

[danielc]

Without wishing to seem critical, I wonder whether SEELANGS is really an
appropriate forum for discussing specific cases of plagiarism.  One suspects
that there may be legal ramifications (including the possibility of libel) to
such an investigation when it is conducted in a public mailing list.  At any
rate, there is a clear danger of an ethical mistake here.  Even if there is no
actual plagiarism ("omitting quotation marks" may well be the result of
inexperience rather than a "crime"), a large number of people--potential future
teachers or employers--are now aware that two students at a specific university
are under suspicion; moreover, they have a partial sense of these people's
identity (emigres). All the emigre students that attend the given university
may now be tarred with the same brush.  In my opinion, INVESTIGATION OF
PLAGIARISM AND OTHER ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT SHOULD BE KEPT AS CONFIDENTIAL AS
POSSIBLE (as is certainly the policy in every university I am aware of); this
certainly means that it should not be a matter of public discussion on
SEELANGS.  Please be careful to protect the innocent.

            Daniel E. Collins