My Blog

Here is an update for my previous post on plagiarism issue. For the uninitiated, check the previous post for details.

Finally some of the media (apart from blogs) have written about the Anna university plagiarism case. News was released by IANS (Indo-Asian New Service).

Some interesting excerpts.

In a correction published online, Barry Carter, editor of JMS, says the paper from India 'does not just plagiarize the results presented in the PNAS paper but actually copies most of it word for word'.
........
........

He (K. Muthukkumaran) says he committed the 'mistake' of sending to JMS the manuscript written by a ghost writer without realizing that the writer had simply copied the PNAS paper. But he believes he was made a scapegoat in the entire affair and added that his mouth was sealed because he was a student.

I have a feeling that he has been made a scapegoat in this, though I don’t have any evidence towards the same. A check on the recently used CVs of co-authors will answer the question of their awareness about the article. But sending some 'ghost' written paper for publication under your name itself is a grave mistake.

"I am extremely sad that my faculty is involved in this sordid affair," P K Palanisamy, head of physics department at Anna University, told IANS, adding that it was the first time such an incident had happened in his university.

He said that after an internal inquiry, the university has barred Selladurai from guiding any more doctoral students.

All right... Someone has entered this case in the ‘examples of plagiarism’ on the wikipedia article on ‘PLAGIARISM’. Thus, they have entered the history books for many coming years, taking the name of 'India' and 'Anna University' with them.

Interestingly, even the previous plagiarism case quoted in wikipedia page, also comes from India. The BS Rajput , former VC of Kumaon University, case, who resigned after an inquiry which was followed after the Nobel laureates and leading physicists from Stanford, wrote to the President.

Seeji, Pharm House

Related article : Plagiarism ; Anna University's turn ?

Picture from jack of all blogs