How embarrassing is this? A committee at Southern Illinois University was supposed to develop a
plagiarism policy, but somehow ended up plagiarizing Indiana University's plagiarism policy.
Members of a committee formed in response to plagiarism accusations
levied against a former university administrator received word this
week that they need to reconvene and examine documents they may have
plagiarized.
According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the 10-member committee
of Southern Illinois University academics and administrators
commissioned to develop a plagiarism policy may have borrowed from
Indiana University’s definition—without citing IU.
SIU officials seemed surprised by the news and stressed the policy was still in draft form. [Link]
The policy may be in draft form, but the officials are definitely in daft form. If the draft is plagiarized, there's a pretty good chance that the final document would be plagiarized too.
Perhaps the president of SIU should send the committee members a note reprimanding them. But before he does that, he'd better make sure the president of Indiana University hasn't sent out an identical note.
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