CORRECTION: The original version of this column stated the Daily Beast used iThenticate to check Gerald Posner’s articles for plagiarism. Robert Creutz says he is unaware of the specific nature of the material the Beast was checking with the service. The lead has be changed to reflect this. A quote from him also suggested he had contacted the Beast to recommend they move to the subscription option, but Creutz says he was speaking in general and did not make a recommendation. The quote has been corrected. Finally, Associated Content was cited as an iThenticate customer. Creutz says his references to Associated Content were in the context of noting that the company is similar to Demand Media. He did not mean to imply that they were a customer. We regret the errors.
Behind the News
12:13 PM - February 19, 2010
To Catch A Plagiarist
There are tools to catch plagiarists in action. Why don’t news outlets use them?
‘See you on the other side’ - Meet Jessica Lum, a terminally ill 25-year-old who chose to spend what little time she had practicing journalism
#Realtalk: This is the best moment to be in journalism - The old stuff isn’t coming back, but that’s okay
Streams of consciousness - Millennials expect a steady diet of quick-hit, social-media-mediated bits and bytes. What does that mean for journalism?
Sticking with the truth - How ‘balanced’ coverage helped sustain the bogus claim that childhood vaccines can cause autism
An ink-stained stretch - Can Aaron Kushner save the Orange County Register—and the newspaper industry?
This is the best moment to be in journalism (25)
The WSJ editorial page hits rock bottom (19)
Stop with the Jew-ranking already!
“There are some lists that have helped Jews in the past, including, most notably, Schindler’s, but…”
Please continue pronouncing ‘gif’ any way you please
We are all correct
The New York Times told me to take this down
“If you wouldn’t mind using another publication to advertise your infringement tool, we’d appreciate it”
In AP, Rosen investigations, government makes criminals of reporters
“[A]s flagrant an assault on civil liberties as anything done by George W. Bush’s administration”
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
Uptown Messenger – Hyperlocal news for a neighborhood in New Orleans
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
Chcek this out.
#1 Posted by Tom Gates, CJR on Mon 22 Feb 2010 at 07:00 PM
I hope they keep on plagiarizing. I've based a blog on finding, documenting and naming the word thieves. Silverman is right: it's the readers who catch most of it. www.oldwordwolf.blogspot.com Don't know what I'd do without them.
#2 Posted by mtarnowski, CJR on Mon 8 Mar 2010 at 11:24 PM
Don't want to be accused in plagiarism? Want to show cearly non-plagiarized papers? Choose plagiarism detection www.plagiarisma.net and be sure that your papers are non-plagiarized.
#3 Posted by Jon, CJR on Mon 25 Oct 2010 at 11:30 AM
Something to consider here is that stories or op-ed pieces about generic topics -- health care reform, fashion, Net neutrality, etc. -- are easier to plagiarize than those that cover new (or intensely local) topics. For editors, the best defense against plagiarism may be to demand stories that haven't been done before.
#4 Posted by Jack Robinson, CJR on Tue 21 Dec 2010 at 02:15 AM
I agree with commenter Jack Robinson that it's best to look at "generic," or what I would call more technical topics, for plagiarism. I think the news section could have just as much plagiarism as op-eds though.
Much of my school paper's news section is rewritten press releases, much of it lacking attribution.
I'd also include that plagiarism checkers should be mindful of the author's expertise, and if the checker is an editor - be mindful of how much time the person put into the piece in comparison to the quality of the piece.
Also - smaller outlets are going to be better to check due to lower levels of readership and fewer editors looking over reporters' shoulders.
#5 Posted by Brian Jensen, CJR on Fri 6 Jan 2012 at 06:12 PM