Plagiarism in the Economics Profession

Walter Enders and Gary A. Hoover

University of AlabamaDepartment of Economics, Finance, and Legal Studies

What is Plagiarism?

The Modern Language Association’s Style Guide

“Using another person’s ideas or expressions in your writing without acknowledging the source constitutes plagiarism.”

Black’s Law Dictionary “the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or

parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one's own mind.”

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (www.m-w.com) “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's

own.”

Which of the following constitute plagiarism?

Not at all Not likely Likely Definitely Total

Unattributed sentences (several)2

(1.8%)21 (19.8%)

47(44.3%)

36(34%)

106

Unattributed proof (derivation) from working paper

010

(9.3%)35

(32.4%)63 (58.3%) 108

Unattributed proof (derivation) from published paper

05

(4.6%)32

(29.4%)72 (66.1%) 109

Unattributed idea4

(3.9%)45 (43.7%)

37 (35.9%)

17(16.5%)

103

Use of privately collected data without permission

3(2.8%)

18 (16.8%)35

(32.7%)51 (47.7%) 107

In a clear case of plagiarism, which of the following are appropriate responses?

Not at all Not likely Likely Definitely Total

Notify the original author (if possible)2

(1.8%)9

(8.2%)21 (19.1%) 78 (70.9%) 110

Notify department chair, dean, provost….

11(11%)

42(42%)

23(23%)

24(24%)

100

Ban future submissions to journal1

(1%)23

(21.5%)38 (35.5%) 45 (42.1%) 107

Public notice of plagiarism 19 (19.2%)50

(50.5%)17 (17.2%) 13 (13.1%) 99

Code of Ethics

Many professions have a professional “code of ethics”. Do you think the economics profession would benefit from such a code?

Yes No Responses

All 63(67%)

31 (33%)

94

List of 20 10 (58.8%)

7 (41.2%)

17

Information about the Respondents

INFORMATION ABOUT RESPONDENTS

Academic 970 0.80

Assistant Professor 259 0.26

Associate Professor 245 0.25

Full Professor 412 0.42

Instructor/Lecturer 49 0.05

# of Government

Non-academics

# of Private Sector Non-

academics

# of Other Non-

academics

Non-academics

241 111 82 46

(19.9%) (46.3%) (34.2%) (19.2%)

Information about the Respondents

JEL Listed Articles

Non JEL Listed Articles Books Book Chapters Other

Referee Number

1960-1969 46.541 43.1273 7.5091 13.6538 30 8.4426

1970-1979 27.9713 19.7284 3.1316 10.2805 21.4412 10.1359

1980-1989 18.751 12.4017 1.7947 6.5921 11.4261 9.4774

1990-1999 9.9215 7.1325 1.1377 3.8957 6.9749 7.0422

2000-2004 3.0792 2.6131 0.425 1.285 1.9844 3.7619

Ever Plagiarized by Decade

Decade of Receiving PhDNumber and Percentage of

Receiving PhDEver been plagiarized by decade

1960-1969 65 27

(5.43%) (9.4%)

1970-1979 187 57

(15.6%) (19.8%)

1980-1989 272 72

(22.7%) (25%)

1990-1999 413 91

(34.5%) (31.6%)

2000-2004 261 41

(21.8%) (14.2%)

Total 1198 288

Which of the Following Constitute Plagiarism? (All)

Not at all Not Likely Likely Definitely Total

Unattributed sentences 34 200 504 470 1208

(2.8%) (16.6%) (41.7%) (38.9%)

Unattributed proof from working paper

30 80 428 668 1207

(2.5%) (16.6%) (41.7%) (38.9%)

Unattributed proof from published paper

26 58 330 785 1199

(2.2 %) (4.8%) (27.5%) (65.5%)

Unattributed idea 36 387 552 223 1198

(3.0%) (32.3%) (46.1%) (18.6%)

Use of privately collected data 92 201 375 525 1193

(7.7%) (16.8%) (31.4%) 44.0(%)

In a Clear Case Of Plagiarism, Which Of the

Following Are Appropriate Responses

Not at All Not Likely Likely Definitely Total

Notify the original author (if possible) 21 49 300 833 1203

1.75% 4.07% 24.94% 69.24%

Notify plagiarist's department chair, dean, provost,

48 260 515 367 1190

4.03% 21.85% 43.28% 30.84%

Ban future submissions to journal from plagiarist

58 274 474 383 1189

4.88% 23.04% 39.87% 32.21%

Public notice of plagiarism 109 482 376 209 1176

9.27% 40.99% 31.97% 17.77%

Which of the Following Constitute

Plagiarism? (Outside US)

Not at all Not Likely Likely Definitely Total

Unattributed sentences 21 78 199 143 441

(4.8%) (17.7%) (45.1%) (32.4%)

Unattributed proof from working paper 14 31 141 255 441

(3.2%) (7.0%) (32.0%) (57.8%)

Unattributed proof from published paper 12 23 108 294 436

(2.8%) (5.3%) (24.8%) (67.4%)

Unattributed idea 16 108 207 104 434

(3.7%) (24.9%) (47.7%) (24.0%)

Use of privately collected data 29 68 145 194 436

(6.7%) (15.6%) (33.3%) (44.5%)

Code of Ethics

“Clear statement regarding what does and what does not constitute plagiarism; consistent standards across journals/institutions for dealing with plagiarism so that individuals know a) what the consequences are, and b) how to deal with the situation.”

yes no total

Code of ethics 798 391 1189

(67.1%) (32.9%)