PLAGIARISM AND SCHOLARSHIP
Based On A Review Of Scholarly And Popular Literature
by
Elizabeth V. Burt
Associate Professor of Communication
Notes for Library Symposium
“Plagiarism—Whose Words Are They”
University of Hartford
September 28, 2004
PART A: Authors and Plagiarism, 1998-2004: Some Prominent Cases
1. April 1998—James Mackay, prolific Scottish author, accused of copying substantial portions
of his recently published biography of Alexander Bell from a 1973 biography written by Boston
University Professor Robert V. Bruce.1
a. September 1999—Mackay is accused of copying portions of his 1998 biography, I Have
Not Yet Begun to Fight: A Life of John Paul Jones from a biography of John Paul Jones
published in 1959 by American historian Samuel Eliot Morrison (deceased). (Book was
published in Scotland 1998; due to be released in U.S October 1999.)
b. Scholars subsequently challenged three more of Mackay’s published books as
plagiarisms (biographies of Andrew Carnegie, Mary Queen of Scotts and William
Wallace, “Braveheart”).2
2. August 2001 – Winston L. Frost, dean of Trinity Law School, Santa Ana, Cal.
a. Accused of plagiarizing passages from the Encyclopedia Brittanica and a 1983 paper by a
legal scholar in a fall 2000 law review article, “The Development of Human Rights
Discourse…” and his master’s thesis, as well as another article published in a second
scholarly journal.3
3. January 2002 – Stephen E. Ambrose, professor emeritus at the University of New Orleans;
best-selling author of The Wild Blue, a book about WWII pilots (Simon & Schuster, 2001)
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a. Fred Barnes, Executive Editor of The Weekly Standard, a conservative weekly, publishes
an article accusing Ambrose of copying numerous passages from Thomas Childers’s
Wings of Fire, published by Addison-Wesley in 1995; Childers concurs.4
b. Ambrose is the author of more than 25 books; at least six of them have been best-sellers.5
c. Subsequent examination of Ambrose’s books by a writer for the Wall Street Journal finds
that at least four suffer from the same problem.6
4. January 2002 – Doris Kearns Goodwin, best-selling “presidential” historian, author of The
Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys (Simon & Schuster, 1987)
a. Following the revelations about Ambrose, an anonymous writer sends a letter to the
editor of The Weekly Standard, accusing Goodwin of plagiarism in her book on the
Kennedys.7
b. Blocks of material and quotes in the book appear to be taken from as many as six other
books, including Lynne McTaggart’s biography of Kathleen Kennedy. Goodwin
acknowledges that in 1987 her publisher paid McTaggart an undisclosed sum to settle the
accusations of plagiarism.8
c. Subsequent investigations by various newspapers found similar problems in other
Goodwin books, including her 1994 Pulitzer Prize-winning book about Eleanor and
Franklin D. Roosevelt, No Ordinary Time, which duplicates almost verbatim numerous
passages from Joseph Lash’s Eleanor and Franklin (published 1971). 9
5. February 2002 – Louis W. Roberts—Chairman of the classics department at the State
University at Albany, director of the doctoral program in humanistic studies, author of Sources
for the History of Cyprus: Latin Texts…(2000)
a. charges of plagiarism brought to attention of the provost shortly after book is published;
sizeable portions (translations from the Latin) were taken from two old sources,
published in 1908 (reprinted 1969) and 1930
b. when no action is taken, reported to University of Albany history professor, who then
circulated a memo in February 2002, leading to publicized investigation.
6. October 2002 – Eugene M. Tobin—president of Hamilton College (NY), failed to attribute
his source for comments about a book in his convocation speech to incoming Freshmen—
comments had been published in a book review on Amazon.com.
a. a music professor located the comments on Amazon dot com, pointed out Tobin’s failure
to give credit to the reviewer
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b. Tobin, previously dean of the faculty, chairman of the history department, apologized and
resigned, effective June 30 (2003)10
7. May 2003 --Brian VanDeMark – tenured associate professor of history at the Naval
Academy and author of Pandora’s Keepers: Nine Men and the Atomic Bomb
a. Accused by four authors of plagiarizing dozens of uncredited passages from their books.
8. Feb 2004—Richard L. Judd, president of Central Connecticut State University, plagiarized
portions of a New York Times opinion piece about Cyprus in an article he published in the
Hartford Courant.
a. The Connecticut State University board of trustees launched an investigation into what
action should be taken against him, if any.
b. Before this could be concluded, Judd appeared before the faculty Senate to explain his
case and the majority of the Senate voted to retain him as president despite the
allegations.11
Judd eventually resigned before the board of trustees could conclude its investigation
Part B. What Is Plagiarism
1. Many of these articles struggle to define what plagiarism is. Most agree on three
characteristics:
a. Using someone else’s exact words without using quotes and attribution is plagiarism
b. Paraphrasing someone else’s words without using attribution is plagiarism.
c. “The act of using the work of another with an intent to deceive.”12
2. Others go beyond this to define plagiarism as a “failure of the creative process” that fails to
“add anything of value to the copied material.”13
3. Most define plagiarism as a form of theft, as a “pilfering of words” and the “misappropriation
of ideas.”14 The word “plagiarism” is taken from the Latin, literally the word for
“kidnapping,” the “theft of someone else’s brainchild.”15 This presupposes that one can
“own” ideas or communication (writing) and poses ideological questions
a. A postmodern interpretation of plagiarism would dismiss it as a modern Western concept
based on the ideologies of capitalism and ownership. The true postmodernist would not
even acknowledge the concept of plagiarism, since a postmodernist would, by definition,
reject the idea that anyone can “own ideas.”16
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b. The concept of “owning” ideas contradicts the concept of the intellectual community and
the free flow and exchange of ideas.
c. Other postmodern explanations of plagiarism would be to portray it as a taboo of a
particular generation, culture, or social philosophy, or to assign its responsibility to
someone or something other than the plagiarist, such as patriarchy, Western culture,
capitalism and the academic hierarchy.17
d. Author Marilyn Randall defnies plagiarism as something that is “transhistorical” (a
concept valid across time), but argues that what counts as plagiarism changes according
to the context and is a “social category constructed by practices, understandings, and
institutions.”18
2. Some publishers, academic institutions, or professional organizations, have clear definitions
of plagiarism and the use of others’ work.
a. The U.S. Naval Academy’s history department, for example, “states that ‘citations
must clearly and explicitly guide the reader to the sources used” and that writers must
indicate “all use of another’s word, even if they constitute only part of a sentence,
with quotation marks and specific citation.’”19
3. There is some disagreement on “how much” copying constitutes plagiarism; most agree that
“substantial blocks” of copied or near-verbatim material constitutes plagiarism. Such cases
would include:
a. James Mackay’s biography of Alexander Bell. Robert Bruce, whose work was
plagiarized by Mackay, found that 285 pages in Mackay’s 297-page text contained
“obvious plagiarisms.”20
b. Brian VanDeMark’s book on the atom bomb The authors whose books were plagiarized
by VanDeMark found more than 30 uncredited passages in his book that came from their
work.
c. Louis W. Roberts’ book on sources for the history of Cyprus. Most of the translations in
Roberts’ book were apparently taken (without credit) in their entirety from two books
published more than forty years earlier.
3. There is also some disagreement over the adequate and proper use of footnotes and citations.
a. Goodwin, for example, argued that she included the titles of the books she had plagiarized
in her footnotes, though the actual words of the other author might not always have been
enclosed in quotation marks. Critics respond that this is misleading; the reader does not
always understand which words are of the cited author and which are the original words of
the author.
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b. Others admit that authors often inadvertently use the words of others in their work in that
they are immersed in the literature and sometimes do not separate their own thoughts from
those in common circulation (“great minds think alike”); this is generally viewed as
acceptable as long as this is not prevalent in an author’s work.21
Part C. Causes of Plagiarism
A variety of causes are suggested, some related to the pressures of academia, publishing
industry, and even pop-psychology; others are simply the result of human error.
1. Pressures in academia:
c. “publish or perish”; tenure and promotion; fat resume, receive grants; prestige within the
institution; books more prestigious than journal articles
d. some academics may be overextended and have competing obligations; junior faculty
seeking tenure may have young families, low salaries, student loans to pay off; senior
faculty may simply feel the pressure to maintain a quantity of publications; both may seek
shortcuts to publish more quickly.22 Shortcuts often lead to plagiarism.
c. failure of institutions to support academic presses that demand quality scholarship,
comprehensive footnotes, editorial accuracy.
2. Pressures in publishing industry:
a. fame and fortune: pressure on “best-sellers” to publish more books, faster, more readable
for popular audience = less emphasis on footnotes, reliance on research assistants who are
not always careful or qualified.23
3. Pop-psychology:
a. professional jealousy a motive driving the critics of a successful author (Goodwin) 24
b. frenzy in the sensational press– delight in publishing stories with the familiar narrative
frame: “How the mighty have fallen”
4. Human and technological error:
a. Errors resulted from inadvertence, not intentional (Historians explaining Goodwin’s
failure to clearly indicate what material was related to sources in footnotes)
b. sloppy notes, failure to indicate in notes what is a direct quote or a paraphrase.
c. Confusing notes on someone else’s review and one’s on comments
d. Errors originating with, duplicated by, magnified by research assistants.
e. Failure of inexperienced or poorly trained research assistants to document materials
correctly, credit and cite sources properly, keep meticulous records, edit material
correctly without losing track of sources, citations, etc.
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f. Glitches in computer programs that fail to credit original sources in multiple revisions.
5. Institutional/organizational/professional responses:
a. AHA “Statement of Plagiarism”: “The plagiarist’s standard defense—that he or she was
misled by hastily taken and imperfect notes—is plausible in the context of a wider
context of shoddy work.”25
b. MLA Handbook on “unintentional” or “inadvertent” plagiarism: “Plagiarism sometimes
happens because researchers do not keep precise records of their reading and by the time
they return to their notes, they have forgotten whether their summaries and paraphrases
contain quoted material that is poorly marked or unmarked.”26
c. MLA Handbook on plagiarism: “Presenting an author’s exact wording without marking
it as a quotation is plagiarism, even when you cite the source.”27
Part D: Effects Of Plagiarism
1. Several editors of historical journals and books state that the basis of the relationship
between the historian and the reader, the historian and the editor, must be trust. Joyce
Seltzer, executive editor of Harvard University Press, writes:
The historian is expected to deliver a manuscript that captures his or her own
intellectual point of view and to develop and substantiate it with thorough research
and rigorous analysis…. Although secondary sources can be critically important to
the historian’s task of reconstruction, it is the fresh encounters with primary
sources that provide truly novel interpretations. I, and readers in general, trust our
guide to the past to treat sources with the greatest respect…. The honesty of the
work is the historian’s responsibility and obligation.28
This trust is the basis of the health of the intellectual community and guarantees the
success of the profession and the publishing industry. “Breaking faith with the publisher , and
indeed the public,” Seltzer warns, “is a taint not only on the specific work or author, but also on
the status of the profession itself.”29
Thus plagiarism damages the reputation of the entire intellectual community, not just the
individual of plagiarism.
2. The occurrence and public discussion of cases of plagiarism increases scholars’ sense of
vulnerability of their scholarship to misappropriation.
3. the public begins to ask, “How contaminated is the literature of some disciplines.” 30 In other
words, can the public trust what they read?
4. Students loose meaningful role models; expect faculty to be honest, represent the best in the
discipline; say examples of plagiarism in scholars encourages them to cheat too.
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Part E. Difficulty in “Punishing” Plagiarism
1. Plagiarism is an ethical misdeed, but not necessarily a legal violation,” says Michael
Grossman.31 A charge of plagiarism must be considered carefully, for it can have serious
repercussions:
a. It can ruin a writer’s career
b.Ironically, a charge of plagiarism can lead to a countercharge of libel—a legal charge.
2. Commercial considerations: Publisher can withdraw book from stores, shred copies, halt
publication (see Mackay and VanDeMark); bookstores can return books to publisher, cancel
author signings – signifies a short term financial loss. Temptation might be to sweep issue
under the rug (to avoid publicity and financial loss.)
3. Public is blasé, desensitized about charges of plagiarism—assumes all authors fabricate,
plagiarize; not enough public opinion behind decisions to “punish.”
Part D. Retribution and Recidivism
Yet some action can be taken to punish/discourage/prevent plagiarism; to provide public
examples. Here is the outcome of the cases described in part one of this paper:
1. James MacKay—(John Paul Jones) book withdrawn by American publisher and all copies
destroyed; publishing company in Scotland halted distribution and destroyed remaining stock.
a. copies of Alexander Graham Bell biography also pulped, at a loss of about $40,000 to
Mackay/
b. However, still a popular figure, in Spring 2002 invited to address an international Robert
Burns conference.
2. Winston L. Frost (dean of Trinity Law School) was suspended with pay while being
investigated by his university
a. he was dismissed as dean of the law school in August 2001 and eventually fired from the
faculty.
b. In April 2003, the Christian Sentinel, published an article claiming that Winston, who was
trying to establish a new college in Palm Springs, had plagiarized Trinity’s school
catalogue “welcome” in a “message from the dean” on the new college’s website. The
articles published the two welcomes side by side.32
3. Stephen Ambrose is one of the historians featured in David Callahan’s The Cheating Culture:
Why More Americans are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead (Harcourt, 2004)
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4. Doris Kearns Goodwin was dragged through the mud in both the popular and academic
press, and has attained notoriety on websites such as “The Black Table” (about plagiarists)
and History News Net.
a. She was asked to take a leave of absence from public television’s “NewsHour with Jim
Lehrer” and was forced to resign from her seat on the Pulitzer Prize board. Several
universities cancelled her appearance on their campuses in the immediate aftermath of the
revelations, and the Harvard Crimson demanded her ouster from Harvard’s Board of
Overseers (her term subsequently expired and was not renewed)33
b. She is one of the historians featured in David Callahan’s The Cheating Culture: Why More
Americans are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead.
b. By November 2003, she was back on the air, appearing regularly on NBC’s Sunday
morning “Meet the Press.”
c. In November 2003, more than a dozen historians of repute (including Arthur Schlesinger,
Jr., and David Halberstam) wrote a letter to the New York Times exonerating her of
plagiarism, stating, among other things, that her errors in The Fitzgerald and the
Kennedys were inadvertent, not intentional and that she “did not, does not, cheat or
plagiarize.”34
5. Brian VanDeMark – Little, Brown, his publisher, immediately withdrew the book from the
market; as of October 2003, it said it was reissuing a revised edition of the book. (A search of
various websites on sept. 28, 2004 failed to locate this edition.)
a. The Naval Academy found VanDeMark guilty of plagiarism, withdrew his tenure, reduced
his rank from associate to assistant professor, and reduced his salary from $73,317 to
$63,043. 35
d. One of the authors he plagiarized told reporters he believed he should have been fired.36
e. He is one of the authors featured in The Cheating Culture.
6. Louis W. Roberts (SUNY—translations)
a. As of February 22, 2002, University of Albany was “investigating” his case
b. Roberts left his chairmanship (voluntarily), but remained a fulltime faculty member. 37
7. Richard L. Judd (CCSU)
a. Upon his retirement in June 2004, Judd was granted emeritus status in a document
which cites him for his “leadership and outstanding service to the university”38
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NOTES
1. Robert V. Bruce, “Scotching Plagiarism,” History News Network, 18 March 2002,
<(http:hnn.us.articles/printfriendly/633.html>, accessed 27 September 2004.
2. Ralph Blementhal, “Publisher Cancels Biography After Plagiarism Inquiry,” New York
Times, 25 September 1999, B. 9.
3. H.G. Reza, “School to Kick Alleged Plagiarist Off Faculty,” Los Angeles Times, 24
August 2004, B. 8.
4. David D. Kirkpatrick, “2 Say Stephen Ambrose, Popular Historian, Copied Passages,”
New York Times, 5 Jan. 2002, A. 8.
5. Ibid.
6. Mark Lewis, “Don’t Indict ‘Popular History,” The Wall Street Journal, 22 Jan. 2002,
A. 20.
7. Peter H. King, “As History Repeats Itself, the Scholar Becomes the Story,” Los
Angeles Times, 4 August 2004, A.1
8. Martin Arnold, “Writers Beware: History is an Art, not a Toaster,” New York Times, 28
February 2002, E. 1; David D. Kirkpatrick, “Historian’s Fight for her Reputation May be
Damaging It,” New York Times, 31 March 2002, 1.
9. King, “As History Repeats Itself, the Scholar Becomes the Story.”
10. Tamar Lewin, “Hamilton President Resigns Over Speech,” New York Times, 3
October 2002, B. 10.
11. Loretta Waldman and Ann Marie Somma, “Judd Gets Faculty Senate Support,”
Hartford Courant, 16 March 2004, B. 1.
9
12. Marc Rose, citing Donald Shaw’s article “Plagiary,” in his review of Pragmatic
Plagiarism: Authorship, Profit, and Power, by Marilyn Randall. Comparative Literature
(Summer 2002), 270.
13. Grossberg, “Plagiarism and Professional Ethics,” 1334.
14. Michael Grossberg, “Plagiarism and Professional Ethics—A Journal Editor’s View,”
The Journal of American History 90:4 (March 2004), 1333.
15. Abigail Lipson, “A Case of Plagiarism… Or Not?” About Campus, July-August 2003,
10.
16. Grossberg, “Plagiarism and Professional Ethics,” 1336; Charles J.G. Griffin, Review
of Perspectives on Plagiarism and Intellectual Property in a Postmodern World., by L.G.
Buranen and A.M. Roy, Communication Education 52:2 (April 2003), 174-75.
17. Griffin, “Review,” 175.
18. Rose, Review of Pragmatic Plagiarism:, 270.
19. Jacques Steinberg, “New Book Includes Passages From Others,” New York Times, 31
May 2003, B. 9.
20. Bruce,” Scotching Pagiarism.”
21. Lipson, “A Case of Plagiarism…Or not?”, 11.
22. Joyce Seltzer, “Honest History,” The Journal of American History 90:4 (March
2004), 1348; Louis Lasagna, “The Price of Prestige,” Sciences (January/February 1985), 58..
23. Seltzer, “Honest History,” 1849.
24. King, “As History Repeats itself, the Scholar Becomes the Story.”
25. Quoted in Timothy Noah, “Historians Rewrite History,” Historians Rewrite History,”
Chatterbox, MSN Slate, <http://slate.msn.com/id/2091197/>.
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26. Ibid.
27. Ibid.
28. Seltzer, “Honest History,” 1347.
29. Seltzer, “Honest History,” 1348.
30. Peter Hernon, Editorial: “Misconduct Persists: Is it Time to Connect the Dots?” The
Journal of Academic librarianship 27:6 (November 2001), 431.
31. Michael Grossberg, Plagiarism and Professional Ethics,” 1338.
32. http://cutlink.com/plagiarism/frost-tri.htm>, accessed 27 September, 2004.
33. David D. Kirkpatrick, “Historian’s Fight for her Reputation May be Damaging It,”
New York Times, 31 March 2002, 1; Harvard University Website (HAA.Harvard.EDU)
34 “In Defense of Doris Kearns Goodwin,” Letter to the Editor, New York Times, 25
October 2003; discussed in Timothy Noah, “Historians Rewrite History.”
35. HNN Poll: Brian VanDeMark … Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?”. History News
Network, 29 October 2003, <(http:hnn.us.articles/printfriendly/1764.html>, accessed 27
September 2004.
36. Jacques Steinberg, “U.S. Naval Academy Demotes Professor Over Copied Work,”
New York Times, 29 October 2003, A. 21.
37. Karen W. Arenson, “SUNY Classical Professor is Accused of Plagiarism,” New York
Times, 22 February 2002, B. 1.
38 . CSU Website, Board of Trustees,
<http://w3sysoff.ctstateu.edu/web/CSUweb_Trustees.nsf/0/ac64f54614…>, accessed 27
September 2004.
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