Information for Authors

 

Call for Papers

A refereed online journal, Plagiary features research articles, "Perspectives" articles, reviews, and reports addressing general and specific issues related to plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification. Authors are invited to submit papers and "perspectives" articles for publications consideration in the following areas:

• Discipline specific misconduct (i.e. journalism, history, science . . .)
  
  
• Controversial decisions and pending decisions/litigation
  
  
• Historical instances and views
  
  
• Development of modern conventions for referencing and source acknowledgement
  
  
• Popular genres of discourse
  
  
• Literary traditions and conceptualizations of plagiarism
  
  
• Legal issues (i.e. copyright infringement, federal regulations)
  
  
• Case studies (modern or historical; inter-/intra-lingual)
  
  
• Plagiarism/fraud detection and prevention
  
  
• Pedagogical approaches and student perspectives at the university level (cheating & academic integrity)
  
  
• Technical reports on related phenomena (i.e. cryptomnesia, forgery)
  
  
• Correlations of plagiary with other forms of fraudulent behavior and scholarly misconduct
  
  
• Other topics of clear relevance to the study of plagiary, fabrication, and falsification (i.e. legimate means of derivative expression, and studies which analyze such topics as mimicry, parody, pastiche and the like )
  
  
• Book reviews
  
  
• Responses to published articles

  (see idea list below)
  

Publication

The first articles to be featured in Plagiary are scheduled for publication in January of 2006. Authors/scholars/researchers are invited to submit papers and research reports to be considered for publication in Volume I, 2006. "Perspectives" articles are also welcomed in the form of opinion pieces which discuss current and relevant issues of interest such as pending cases of copyright litigation (i.e. the Google copyright controversy), current cases of research fraud (i.e. Hwang Woo Suk and the fabricated human stem cell cloning results), recently disclosed instances of plagiary, and other topics of importance.

Following the model of an online, open access scholarly journal, papers will be organized within Plagiary according to volume number and paper number. Papers will be published on an ongoing basis as they are reviewed and revised (depending on referee recommendations). At the end of each calendar year, a hardcopy version of the journal will also be made available for individual and institutional purchase (i.e. Plagiary 2006, Plagiary 2007 . . . ).

Published through the University of Michigan's Scholarly Publishing Office (SPO), the journal contents are distributed and preserved on a non-exclusive basis by the University of Michigan Library. Advance online copies of articles will be available as Adobe pdf's at the journal homepage, www.plagiary.org. As part of the University of Michigan library collection, the journal falls under the preservation scope of a major research institution thus guaranteeing long term preservation of the journal content in perpetuity while also making research results available to other scholars via the Internet under an "open access", advance online publication model.

Thus, in addition to being hosted by the University of Michigan's Scholarly Publishing Office, abstracts and advance copies of articles from Plagiary are available on the "Papers and Perspectives" page at http://www.plagiary.org/papers_and_perspectives.htm.

New Initiatives in Scholarly Publishing: Alternatives to Commercial Models of Publication

Open access, online publications are part of a recent trend toward reclaiming control of publishing from commercial model dominance. Instead of commercial minded publishers setting the agendas, service minded scholars make the results of important research freely available in an online environment.

Other Online, Open Access, Scholarly Publications

Academic Leadership

Advancing Women in Leadership

Astronomy Education Review

The Behavior Analyst Today

Bilingual Research Journal

Journal of Insect Science

Illiesia

. . . see Links for more online, open access journals

 

Paper Submission Guidelines:

Papers are accepted for consideration with the understanding that they have not previously been published elsewhere (with the exception of conference abstracts and proceedings as well as newly updated or otherwise revised research reports--editorial notation of such to be made with a byline of previous publications with author responsible for obtaining any permissions necessary; reprints for the purposes of providing a historical perspective are also eligible for publications consideration, again with an acknowledgement of such), and are not currently being considered for publication in other venues of scholarly publication. Upon acceptance of an article/review for publication, copyright will be assigned to the Editorial Board of Plagiary with a non-exclusive agreement to distribute and preserve journal content being assigned to the Scholarly Publishing Office of the University of Michigan Library. No reasonable request by authors for permission to reproduce contributions to Plagiary shall be refused.

• In submitting articles for consideration to Plagiary, authors and co-authors affirm that they are the author (s) and/or copyright holders of such articles, and they assume full responsibility for the views expressed in their articles.
• Manuscript: Research articles should be between 12-40 pages ("perspectives" articles 5-20 pages; book reviews 1-8 pages), word-processed, double spaced, including a brief abstract (200 wds) and a brief author bio statement.
• Submission by email: via email attachment in .rtf format (MS Word or Wordperfect) to
  
  
  
  including on a separate cover page (for blind review process) the author's/authors' name (s), affiliation (s), address, home and office telephone/fax numbers, and email address.
• Submission by regular mail: same as for email; please include an e-copy on CD or floppy disk.
  
  John P. Lesko, Editor
  Department of English
  Saginaw Valley St. Univ
  University Center, MI
  USA 48710
  
  
• Style: APA (American Psychological Association--see the OWL at Purdue University for a useful guide) preferred, but allowances made for particular citation and document format conventions for various disciplines.
• Blind Review: To facilitate the blind review process, please remove all identifying information from the main text of your manuscript.
• Tables: Either embed as actual tables (i.e. not formatted with spaces and tabs) within text of a Word document or submit scanned copies of tables and figures as separate email attachments, keeping them independent of the article text.
• Graphics: Supply as Tiff (*.TIF), JPEG (*.JPG), or BMP (*.BMP) files, saved separately from manuscript text.
• Notes: use endnotes sparingly when necessary.
• References: Include an alphabetized reference list of all sources cited within your text. Samples of APA style reference items appear below:

   

Books

Burke, S. (1998). The Death and Return of the Author. Edinburgh, Scotland:

Edinburgh University Press.

Hindelang, M. J., Hirschi, T., & Weis, J. G. (1981). Measuring delinquency.

Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

 

Articles

Shotter, J. (1997). The social construction of our inner selves. Journal of

Constructivist Psychology, 10, 7-24.

Brown, A. S. and Murphy, D. R. (1989). Cryptomnesia: Delineating

inadvertent plagiarism. Journal of Experimental Psychology:

Learning, Memory and Cognition, 15 (3), 432-442.

 

Online Resources

See samples available at the APA style website.

See also the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University for a printable copy of "Using American Psychological Association (APA) Format"

 

From the Editor: Idea List of Paper Titles/Topics/Themes Related to Plagiary

• The Google Copyright Controversy--a forthcoming "perspectives" article seems to favor the Googlization of libray collections. What are the arguments against such digitization and "Google-ization"?
  
  
• The fabrications and research fraud of South Korean scientist Hwang Woo Suk of human cloning infamy. How did such a fraudulent article make it past the "gatekeepers" of such a prestigious scientific publication [Science]? How will this case affect the public image of scientists in the years ahead? What can be done to prevent such things in the future? . . .

  • The State of the Text: Professional Discourse Communities and the Integrity of the Professional Literature (c.f. Willinsky, J. (1990) " Intellectual property rights and responsibilities: The state of the text."—this might be a unique opportunity for a regular editorial feature with an invited contributor each year to expound on “The State of the Text”)
  
  • Plagiarism Detection: Problems and New Challenges for the Academy
  
  • Literary Plagiary and Originality: A Historical Overview of Modern Conceptualizations of Plagiarism
  
  • Journalism and Truthfulness in Reporting: Re-Cultivating a Public Image after Fabrication, Plagiarism, and Falsification (i.e. “anonymous source” reporting, the Newsweek Quran affair, the New York Times Jayson Blair fiasco, USA Today’s Jack Kelley episode, the Dan Rather CBS memo on President Bush’s national guard service, etc.)
  
  • Government Intelligence Communities and “Sexed Up” Dossiers: Downing Street and the Public Image after the Lifted Iraq War Dossier
  
  • Ethics and Scholarly Integrity: What has gone wrong?
  
  • When Theologians and Religious Leaders Plagiarize: Part I of Case Studies in Religious Plagiary (including analysis of plagiarism across the religious spectrum, inclusive of “UFO Cults”)
  
  • Historians and Primary Historical Sources: Notable Instances of “Plagiarism” Under Analysis
  
  • Career Fakers, Fabricators, Forgers and Plagiarists: Part I in a Series of Case Studies in Scientific and Medical Fraud
  
  • Cryptomnesia: Implications for Popular Genres of Discourse
  
  • Science and Technology: How Common is Research Misconduct in the Scientific Literature?
  
  • Theatrical “Plagiarism” and Derivation: A Playwright’s Perspective [topics along these lines might also include analyses of specific works and the sources of derivation]
  
  • Measuring Textual Re-Use in Journalistic Domains, Part 2 (c.f. P. Clough’s “Measuring Text Re-Use in Journalistic Domains”)
  
  • The “Death of the Author” as an “Attempted Murder” by French Poststructuralists
  
  • Literary Plagiarists: Modern Scholarship Uncovers the Sources of Canonical Works [Mark Twain, Poe, Wells, Hawthorne, Irving, Pushkin . . . much potential here ]
  
  • The Politics of Legitimized Plagiary: Speechwriters, ghostwriters, and other behind-the-scenes composers (But what happens when your speechwriter plagiarizes too?)