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comment by mk
mk  ·  3394 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Malcolm Gladwell accused of plagiarism

His shtick drives me nuts, so schadenfreude is enough for me to share. Breezing through, some of these transgressions seem small, some larger. All could easily be corrected for with a simple reference. Why do people seem to have an aversion to referencing source material?

Gladwell was apparently cribbing from source material, putting most of that he cribbed into his own words, and then not citing. That's sloppy and dishonest.

Why isn't there an editorial search engine that checks all text? Why doesn't Google offer a one-click service to publishers as a product?





rob05c  ·  3394 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Why isn't there an editorial search engine that checks all text?

My university uses turnitin to check for "similarity" to both published works and other student submissions. I'm sure it's expensive though.

kleinbl00  ·  3394 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Why isn't there an editorial search engine that checks all text? Why doesn't Google offer a one-click service to publishers as a product?

A cynic would argue that there is more value in shining it on and that what you don't know won't hurt you. It's not like Jonah Lehrer had to give all the money back. It's not like the publishers didn't keep the lions' share of the proceeds from his books. I bought two Lehrer audiobooks. Nobody's offered me a refund.

A realist would argue that Google's model is anything but B2B and that they digitized the world's libraries first and then asked for forgiveness later. Having recently read a book on Google, I don't get a sense that they value publishers or see any benefit in making nice with them.

b_b  ·  3394 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    I bought two Lehrer audiobooks. Nobody's offered me a refund.

You should try suing!

If Templeton Rye had to pay a class action fine for not really making their whiskey "by hand", then why shouldn't Lehrer's publisher be on the hook for not really doing research by hand?

thenewgreen  ·  3394 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    If Templeton Rye had to pay a class action fine for not really making their whiskey "by hand"
Wow, you're not kidding -Knew that a bunch of whiskeys were made from Indiana based spirits, but I didn't realize there were class-action lawsuits.

For the record, whatever Templeton is using, it tastes damned good. I just finished a bottle two nights ago. Really tasty imo.

b_b  ·  3394 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I've always enjoyed it.

I came across that story yesterday when reading about a copycat lawsuit against Maker's Mark. WTF does "handmade" even mean with regard to whiskey? What utter nonsense.

steve  ·  3394 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Why doesn't Google offer a one-click service to publishers as a product?

you're hired. please apply.