METM24 presentation
Recognizing plagiarism and its cousins – from a manuscript editor’s point of view
Mary Ellen Kerans, Barcelona, Spain
The January 2024 resignation of former Harvard president Claudine Gay – after months of accusations of plagiarism in her published papers – made a headline issue out of text recycling. This problem concerns many of us who work with authors preparing books of any type, book chapters in any field, or research papers. I will use the Gay case to explore what plagiarism is and isn’t – a bit of useful baseline information we all need to clarify before arriving at whatever crossroads artificial intelligence might be leading us toward. I will first briefly present a definition of plagiarism used by journal editors and discuss how it may or may not be reflected in “similarity reports” produced with detection software like iThenticate.
Where do we draw the line in different contexts and genres? To answer that question, we’ll examine some text excerpts from similarity reports on Gay’s work and also some from reports that journals have sent to authors and their institutions. Our purpose is to reflect on how we can more confidently recognize possible plagiarism and distinguish it from other types of textual similarity when working with authors – or when reacting as citizens to plagiarism accusations in the news. Because some MET members have been discussing organizing a possible workshop on intertextuality, I will also touch very briefly on some of the many ways authors weave source information effectively into their writing across the disciplines.
This talk is loosely linked to Kate McIntyre’s on the role of an author’s voice and how it distinguishes self from sources. There will be time for questions and comments, and I plan to make the text excerpts available in advance so participants can begin to note their own reactions to “similarities”.
About the presenter
Mary Ellen Kerans is a semi-retired freelance authors’ editor and translator who works mainly but not exclusively with clinical scientists – and historians whenever she gets the chance. Her career has included in-house and freelance work for publishers, plus years of English language teaching, especially English for specific purposes and writing of different types and at various levels. A unifying thread in her approach to working with authors or teaching – whether in traditional settings like universities or in factories and hospitals – is finding a process-oriented way to help writers and presenters achieve their goals.
