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Plagiarism Accusations at the Height of Academia
A scandal embroiling elite university leaders recently swerved into new territory when the president of Harvard University, Claudine Gay, was accused of plagiarism allegations decades in the making. But are the charges of academic dishonesty all they are cracked up to be? And if the president of Harvard can find herself accused of plagiarism, how can you safely navigate this same territory? Let’s break it down.
Several prominent university leaders are walking a political tight rope (and, in some cases, falling off) as they address protests and other actions by students and other individuals on and around their campuses related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I won’t get into the layered, nuanced, and often destructive conversations surrounding the current political landscape, but a quick Google search will certainly yield any additional background you desire.
The media melee wedged open an opportunity for critics of Harvard President Claudine Gay to dredge up any potential skeletons from her past. These included new allegations of plagiarism involving some very old work: a dissertation written by Gay over two decades ago.
Gay’s accusers allege that her work commits plagiarism in two distinct ways: the failure to use quotations for text taken verbatim from other published material AND the failure to appropriately cite previous work from which her dissertation was derived. This excellent article from Harvard’s student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, provides specific examples of the text in question as well as responses from some of the other individuals involved. Here’s one example of the replicated text that some allege constitutes plagiarism, courtesy of the same The Harvard Crimson article:
I’ve looked at this and the other widely published instances of plagiarism of which Gay stands accused. For what it’s worth, I do not believe that Gay committed true academic dishonesty which violates the “spirit of the law;” in other words, I don’t think she ever intended to deceive anyone into believing another person’s ideas were her original ideas. However, the definition of plagiarism extends far beyond one’s intention and even includes unintentional violations of proper citation. In this regard, I think some sloppiness on the part of Gay could land her in hot water, if she isn’t there already. Most, if not all, of her problems could have been avoided by the consistent use of a few simple practices.
When to Use Quotations
Use quotation marks or “quotes” when you are taking any portion of text from another publication or work verbatim, or word-for-word. This applies to the exact replication of any length of text, from paragraphs to sentences to even short phrases, assuming that phrase is not something we typically use in common or generic language. Give attribution or credit to the original author in whatever format or style is appropriate for your manuscript.
Use quotes sparingly. You have probably noticed that good academic writing is not filled with large chunks of copied, pasted, and quoted text. If we wanted to read the work of some other author, we would just go and find the work of that author. There is little academic value in creating chopped up photocopies of someone else’s text.
Quotes are best used when the exact wording of someone else’s idea is exceptional or important and the meaning cannot be accurately captured by paraphrasing. I also like to use quotes when there is some major and/or historical significance of the idea. For example, when discussing the historical responses to emerging infectious diseases, it might be useful to directly quote the first mention of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) to give a real impression of the moment.
In the case of Claudine Gay’s plagiarism accusations, the use of quotations could have made a major difference. In the example pictured above, and in other instances, putting quotes around the verbatim text taken from other publications could have eliminated any concern of misattribution. In fact, Gay recently asked that her previous work be corrected to include quotations around several sections of text.
Of course, there is an easier and smoother way of incorporating established ideas into your own work: paraphrasing.
When and How to Paraphrase
One of the best ways to avoid plagiarism is to paraphrase or concisely summarize an idea in one’s own words. This requires an author to read, absorb, understand, and explain an idea or concept. It sounds like a complex process, but it is something we all do every day; after all, we rarely memorize and regurgitate the things our friends, family, and colleagues say, but we often recount them later.
“But there is no way I could possibly say it better than the original author.” I hear this concern a lot. Here’s a little trick to help you do it.
I call it the Close Your Eyes Test. Read the idea or passage that you want to include in your writing (make sure it is at least a couple of sentences). Re-read it again. Now close your eyes, count to 10, and tell us what the other author said. Unless you have a photographic memory, you will likely generate a completely original portion of text. That’ll do!
Keep in mind that in order to successfully paraphrase, you need to do more than just swap out a few words for their synonyms. The portions of Claudine Gay’s dissertation that were called into question did have some small differences from the original text. But the rest of the text was too similar to have been generated by pure coincidence. Make sure your paraphrased text is original in both word choice and structure and insert some of your own knowledge and ideas whenever possible. You can also paraphrase and combine ideas from multiple sources at the same time to ensure nothing you say replicates a single previous work.
So, does paraphrasing everything mean we are safe from plagiarism? Absolutely not! We still need to worry about the proper citation of other people’s ideas.
When to Cite a Source
While paraphrasing ensures we are not stealing other people’s words, we also must ensure we do not take credit for other people’s ideas. To do this, we cite or give attribution to the person and/or document that originally produced the idea.
When should you cite a source? Almost always. If you state something in an academic work, you should cite either the original source of the idea (unless you completely made it up in your own head without any background information) and/or the evidence that makes your statement factual. Sometimes, one source accomplishes both of these tasks and other times multiple sources are needed to fully support your statement and/or fairly give credit to the original source.
Most academic work requires frequent and consistent citation. Even editorials and other opinion-based writing utilize supporting points and evidence that should be credited to the original source. However, some things do not require citing. The pure opinion and editorialization in such writing would not need to be cited since, presumably, it is coming directly and originally from you.
Another item that may not require citation is “common knowledge.” This is knowledge that is so common that the original source is either unknown or unimportant. If I say “striking your thumb with a hammer produces intense pain,” I do not need to provide a citation since this is something we all either know or can surmise and the poor fool who first discovered this fact is buried under the dust of ancient history.
There are other instances where citation may not be appropriate or necessary. If you state information that you have gathered through your own experience or collective expertise, citation may not be required. For example, if I say “violating the standards of academic honesty can be damaging to your career,” I may not cite any source since this is something I have found to be true based on hundreds of different experiences I have had throughout my career.
How to Cite a Source
There is a massive amount of variation and nuance to citing sources. The exact method of citation will vary based on the type of media you are citing (journal articles, books, webpages, interviews, etc) and based on the style and format of the media in which you are publishing (MLA, APA, AMA, etc.). Purdue University has an excellent style guide you can read here that walks you through some of the most common citation styles.
You can almost always find the appropriate style for your target publication by going to that publication’s author guidelines. For example, the JAAPA author guidelines state that submissions to JAAPA should follow the AMA style or the Uniform Requirements for Biomedical Journals. Many medical and academic science journals follow the same style and standards.
What Else You Should Know
If you consistently use quotations for verbatim text, summarize ideas in your own words, and cite the original sources of ideas, you should avoid most problems associated with plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Of course, there are always hidden pitfalls. Keep in mind that there is no universal definition of plagiarism or consensus method of avoiding it. Each institution and publication often makes its own definitions and decisions regarding plagiarism. For example, the University of Oxford has a comprehensive definition of plagiarism that also includes many situations not outlined above. Make sure you read and understand the code of conduct for any institution and publication with which you work.
If you need help getting started on your next academic article, check out my free guide below:
