A student of business at the University of Münster submitted his final thesis in 2007. The professors - using software - found numerous passages that were not quoted at all or were improperly quoted. They decided to fail the student.
He went to court, and Germany being Germany, it has taken almost 2 years for his day in court to come. As the WDR reports, the student lost his case. The judge decided that the university was correct in failing the student. The university system has threatened to levy fines (a dubious proposition) in the past, but in this case is not planning on trying that, a wise decision.
This is the first case in Germany of which I am aware in which a university has won a plagiarism case against a student. Usually the universities are ordered to give the student another chance instead of exmatriculating them.
Three cheers for the University of Münster with the courage to go to court on this one!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
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4 comments:
Hm. One one hand, yes, he deserved it. That was also my first reaction when I read it on Spiegel online.
But on the other hand, next to nothing happens to plagiarizing professors at German universities and it does seem a bit unfair to be so much harsher with the students.
Another example: The use of 'ghostwriting agencies', where students pay someone to write their theses, is of course considered cheating and forbidden, and rightly so. But when a professor has his assistant - paid for with taxpayer's money - write textbook chapters for him, this is accepted, at least in Darmstadt.
Plagiarism by professors is indeed a grave problem - but is no excuse for students to plagiarize as well. Two wrongs don't make a right.
I am working hard in the area of raising consciousness about the former problem. I now regularly include a few slides about the problem in my lectures on plagiarism for colleagues.
I also wrote to the Minister for Research about the problem, but her house insists that the scientific community must sort this out.
I need more brave people to let me know when their work has been blatantly plagiarized. I help them file formal complaints with the "Ombud für gute wissenschaftliche Praxis" that every university and college in Germany must have. Some are extremely effective, some drag their feet, but the more letters that come and the more work they have to do, the more discussion about plagiarism we will have.
Choosing An Online Plagiarism Detector To Check For Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a growing problem in academia and the work place. The internet has made it easy for nearly anyone to copy written material and pass it off as their own work. Because of the legal and ethical dilemmas associated with plagiarism, plagiarism checking software is now readily available. With so many online plagiarism detectors, choosing one may seem like an overwhelming task, but it can be easy if you know what you're looking for.
You can also find more details and services about plagiarism at here:
In depth plagiarism checking serviceThanks
The above comment is blogspam from a plagiarism detection "service" that I caught re-selling the services of another company without permission in my 2007 test. The company has changed its name, but that's about all.
And software can only detect copies, not plagiarism. We need more education about scientific writing and avoiding plagiarism, not more plagiarism detection software.
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