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from the research-is-plagiarism-but-with-more-sources dept.
Étienne Klein may lose a science/philosophy post months after allegations of plagiarism surfaced:
Étienne Klein, a celebrated French physicist and popularizer of science, seems set to lose his post as president of the Institute for Advanced Studies for Science and Technology (IHEST) in Paris after allegations that he plagiarized more than a dozen scientists, philosophers, and writers in books and articles. A source at France's science and education ministry yesterday confirmed to ScienceInsider that a decree ending Klein's tenure has been signed by Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem and State Secretary Thierry Mandon and is now awaiting the signature of French President François Hollande.
But Klein says he refuses to leave. In an open letter published last week, he wrote that an investigative panel that looked into the matter at Mandon's request has found no evidence of misconduct and that he sees no reason to step down. "My scientific integrity is absolute," Klein wrote to ScienceInsider in an email. The report has not been made public.
Klein leads a small group studying science itself at the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) near Paris, but rarely publishes in the scientific literature; his fame stems from books and articles in popular magazines, mostly about physics. He also hosts a weekly radio show about science. Hollande appointed Klein president of IHEST—which seeks to build trust in science and to reflect on its social, economic, and political aspects—in September 2016.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @08:21AM (1 child)
Do you know how difficult it is to actually do anything about plagiarists? You catch them once, they get a warning, at best. You catch them again, maybe they get a penalty. To get someone kicked off tenure, this has to be serial plagiarism and we hear it in the news because this stuff rarely happens.
Kick him out. There are dozens of good people waiting for tenure that can do just as good a job as he did. There is an oversupply of all series of scientists (postdoctoral students) due to various factors and most of them will never be able to work in academia. It would be be a shame to allow another good candidate past while allowing a plagiarist to remain.
(Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Sunday April 09 2017, @09:05PM
I remember reading about one case of plagiarism in Germany. One of the alleged examples of plagiarism was that the suspect wrote about related work, describing a paper in one or two sentences, and that the gist of those sentences was remarkably similar to someone else who had written about that related work one or two sentences.
That's not remarkable, that's inevitable.
Case in point:
Einstein proposed a new theory of gravity, in which mass induces a curvature of a new concept called "space-time".
I made that one up on the spot. I'd be blown away if you could not find a one-/two-line description that essentially is the same.
If you could find a one/two line description that suggests something else, then I'd assume that one of those descriptions is just plain wrong - probably mine ;)
(I'd definitely take that as sufficiently strong evidence not to repeat my description until I've read up on Einstein a bit)