Plagiarism in Academia and Beyond: What Is the Role of the Courts?

THOMAS MALLON, AUTHOR of the modern classic on plagiarism, "Stolen Words," wrote, "In 2001 the professoriate remains more inclined to pieties than to policing its own.... "2 If cases involving plagiarism are any guide as to the veracity of this statement, Mallon is mistaken. Careers are ruined because plagiarism is fiercely policed in universities as if it is one of the seven deadly sins. Reacting to the dishonest nature of plagiarism, university administrators drum both student and teacher plagiarizers out of the academy.

Practitioners of law and medicine are similarly intolerant of plagiarism.