Plagiarism, is a form of academic dishonesty rightly condemned by most players, both Left and Right, as it involves theft of intellectual property, and the deception of passing off that material which belongs to someone else, as the cheaters own work. But this claim requires qualification. While conservatives, who respect private property, hold steadfast to this principle, not so for the Left. They will make sure their political opponents hold to the rule, but if their heroes violate it, it does not matter. Thus, Martin Luther King plagiarised his doctoral dissertation, enough to justify failing it, and certainly retracting the award. But, being a guru and hero of the race brigade, nothing happened. Just like with this minister's adulteries.
Likewise, it is well known that there is a racket with the overseas students in Australia, many of whom cheat by using services to write papers for them. Not only students, but academics are involved in using these paper mills, who churn out articles so young academics can meet the publish or perish ideology. Now with AI, things are even more advanced, as "original" papers can be produced that escape the usual detections.
As well, the latest development is that attempts to expose plagiarism in academia is racist, and an attack upon Black women! This is in response to research showing that academics involved in the diversity industry have a higher rate of plagiarism than academics in other fields. This stands to reason given that, as argued below, the field of diversity studies has been populated by affirmative action, rather than merit appointments, and pretty much anything goes.
Does it matter? I think not. At this late stage of the game, all that counts is that bridges do not fall down, and that here is some degree of quality control in STEM disciplines involving important work which directly impacts upon the public. There is not much that can be done about the diversity industry other than defund it and let it wither on the academic vine.
https://www.amren.com/news/2024/07/plagiarism-and-disparities/
"Journalism, in part, is the work of turning up stones. Sometimes a reporter finds nothing underneath. Other times, he uncovers shock, scandal, or corruption.
Now, reporters for prestige publications defend, rather than interrogate, the organs of power. They seek to propagate official narratives and to discredit those who would question them.
At first, the prestige press ignored these academics' misbehavior. Then, under enormous pressure, they acknowledged it, couched with caveats and excuses. And finally, in the face of overwhelming evidence, they adopted the Left's defensive counter-narrative, claiming that exposing plagiarism in academia is a form of "racial profiling" designed to "bully and intimidate" "Black women."
They based this accusation on the racial identities of our targets. But I specifically tasked my researchers with investigating potential plagiarism by Harvard scholars and administrators of all racial groups. The initial evidence, though not systematic, pointed to an inconvenient result: a ponderance of plagiarism by academics who specialized in "diversity."
Nevertheless, the Harvard student newspaper, mimicking the legacy press, cried foul. It called the investigation a "witch hunt," and suggested that I was "[t]argeting [b]lack [f]aculty." Jennifer Hochschild, a white professor of African-American studies, deemed our reporting a "targeted" attack on black women. The existence of racial disparities in our plagiarism reporting, they believed, was prima facie evidence of racist intent.
There is a reasonable alternative hypothesis to racism for our disparate plagiarism findings. First, universities have practiced decades of formal and informal affirmative action, recruiting, admitting, advancing, and hiring black scholars with lower standardized test scores than their white peers. Second, it stands to reason that grievance disciplines, such as critical racial studies and DEI administration, have lower academic standards than, say, astrophysics.
Put together, lower admissions standards and scholarly expectations could easily produce racially disproportionate outcomes when measured against general demographics."