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Plagiarism-researchers???



Can tech detect college cheaters? by
Margaret Kane Special to ZDNet News
April 5, 2002, 9:10 AM PT

<http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-876788.html>

In additon to the student problem, and the issue of well known authors
raised in recent weeks, the article says that ...

WordCheck Systems sees another market within academia. But this time the
people being checked out are the researchers and professors.

The company is betting that the market will be driven by a policy recently
put in place by the Federal Office of Science and Technology Policy. The
Federal Policy on Research Misconduct includes plagiarism as a type of
misconduct, and states that research institutions "bear primary
responsibility for prevention and detection of research misconduct, and
for the inquiry, investigation and adjudication of research misconduct
alleged to have occurred in association with their own institution."

In a nutshell, if someone plagiarizes work when applying for a federal
grant or when conducting research paid for by a federal grant, the
institution he or she works for can be punished. Since those punishments
could include being barred from receiving federal grants or even being
charged with criminal or civil fraud, universities may sit up and take
notice.

"Can you imagine what would happen to a school like MIT if they lost
federal privileges?" said Richard L. Austin, who created the concept for
WordCheck Keyword Software and designed the interface. Austin serves as
associate professor of horticulture at the University of Nebraska at
Lincoln. "You remove a university's federal grant privileges and that
university will die."

..

Olga Francois of the University of Maryland University College and the
Center for Intellectual Property runs the Digital Copyright Listserv and
provides a great awarness service tracking recent articles on copyright
and other issues. This article was identified in the "In the News" section
of the DIGITAL-COPYRIGHT Digest 69.

Chuck Hamaker