Plagiarism Risks on Academic Websites

[Terry Huwe]

Folks--

I'd like to know if anyone has given any thought to, or has had any
experience with, the possibility of plagiarim in an academic web
environment.  The question was posed by a few doctoral students who are
affiliated at this research institute (URL:
http://violet.berkeley.edu/~iir).  Read on if the question intrigues
you--hit the old "D" key if not! :-) 

The concern (as I understand it) is that Internet visitors to our web site
could read original material and lift or adapt original ideas that are not
yet published in refereed journals.  These ideas could be found in faculty
working paper abstracts (which students often co-author), or in curriculum
vitae (as summaries).  Since original research is a key to a successful
career launch, the concern is that students who are just starting out might
be "tipping off" others in their field too soon--and broadcasting to the
Internet at the same time.

I talked this over with my Director (she's a labor economist), and she
thinks that students who are not yet on the job market, but soon will be,
are naturally concerned with preserving their intellectual work as they
launch their careers.  This is less of a concern for established academics,
because they become known in their research areas and it's more difficult to
plagiarize.  We recently loaded a very large digital library of working
papers that were funded by the US Department of Labor and involved most of
our faculty, so I suspect that is one reason why the question popped up.

I'm curious as to what others think about this question.  It hadn't occured
to me as a possible problem, but the concern seems valid.  Any insights,
opinions or points of view welcomed.  The students who brought this up are
familiar with Internet culture so they've given it some thought.

Please respond to the list so everyone gets the benefit.

Thanks!  Terry
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Terence K. Huwe
Director of Library & Information Resources
Institute of Industrial Relations
University of California
(510) 642-1705
thuwe at library.berkeley.edu
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/autobiography/thuwe
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