More on plagiarism from NYT

Another front page article on plagiarism in today's NYT.  The focus today is attempting to understand the reasons for the rising percentage of students who admit copying the work of others without attribution.  The article claims that part of the problem is the overall degradation of intellectual property rights that has resulted from the growth of digital media, e.g., copying music and video files.  Also, much of today's popular culture is blatantly derivative -- from rap artists sampling popular music from decades ago to movies that spawn sequel after sequel.  (Aside: finally watched "Avatar" last night, an original visual experience but there should have been footnotes in the credits referring to "Wizard of Oz," "Star Wars," "Dances with Wolves," and "Braveheart.") 

Another theory comes from Sarah Wilensky, a student newspaper writer at Indiana University, who cites inadequate training in writing in high school. 

The main reason it occurs, she said, is because students leave high school unprepared for the intellectual rigors of college writing.

“If you’re taught how to closely read sources and synthesize them into your own original argument in middle and high school, you’re not going to be tempted to plagiarize in college, and you certainly won’t do so unknowingly,” she said.

We will be discussing plagiarism at the Jenkins MBA orientation next week.