Plagiarismの 1例

Takako Kojima 1) 2), Sae Nakano 3) and J. Patrick Barron 4) 5) 6)

1) Associate Professor, Department of International Medical Communications, Tokyo Medical University2) Member, COPE

3) Freelance Translator4) Emeritus Professor, Tokyo Medical University

5) Council Member, COPE6) Adjunct Professor, Seoul National Bundang Hospital

The topic of this second case presented to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) 1 ) is plagiarism and how it

was handled by the journals. As previously discussed in our series 2 ), plagiarism is when an author uses another

source as a reference but fails to acknowledge it properly. This does not only pertain to actual copying of entire

passages from a text (direct plagiarism) but also includes using others’ ideas and opinions but failing to give the

origin.

As stated in this specific case, journals may vary in the way they handle the problem of plagiarism because the

final decision depends on the Editor-in-Chief. However, it is very likely that most journals will refer to what COPE

advises to do regarding such situations.

Case number: 13–13 3 )  A case of plagiarism?

Case text (Anonymised)A paper was published in our journal. A reader contacted us and informed us that the whole of the

introduction of the paper was copied directly from another publication. The editor-in-chief suggested retractingthe paper immediately. However, the author insists on publishing a correction. They do not want to publish aretraction as this will affect their future career development.

Questions for the COPE Forum(1) What can we do?(2) Can we retract without the approval of the author? The author has threatened legal action if we retract.

Advice:The Forum agreed that this was a clear case of plagiarism, and as another journal was involved, there may

also be copyright issues. The Forum stressed that according to the COPE guidelines, an editor does not need theapproval of the author to retract an article. If the editor feels there are grounds for retraction, he/she can retractthe article without the author’s permission. In this case, half of the Forum favored retracting the article, on thegrounds of plagiarism and breach of copyright.

However, others argued that there are different degrees of plagiarism with different severities. Plagiarism cansometimes occur among authors whose first language is not English and who do not realize that plagiarism isunacceptable in this situation. In this case, the data are not corrupt, and the plagiarism seems to have occurredsolely in the introduction. If the data were corrupt, the editor would be correct in reporting this to the author’sinstitution and retracting the paper, irrespective of what the author thinks. But However, this case seems to bemore of a mixture of naivety and lack of understanding of language on the part of the authors. Hence the advicewas to publish a correction or expression of concern, and write a stern letter to the authors explaining that thistype of behavior is unacceptable.

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Hence the Forum was evenly split between recommending retraction versus publishing a correction togetherwith a firm rebuke to the authors. In the end, it was the editor’s decision, but the editor had to inform all of theauthors concerning what action he plans to undertake.

Follow up:The journal withdrew the paper.

Resolution: Case Closed  Year: 2013 ［日本語訳］事例番号：13–13　　剽窃の事例か？

事例の内容（匿名）我々のジャーナルに，ある論文が掲載された．ある読者より我々に，その論文の緒言全体が別の論文から直接コピーされたものであるとの連絡があった．編集長は即座にその論文の取り下げを提案したが，著者は訂正の掲載を主張した．著者は自分達の将来のキャリア形成に影響があることから取り下げの掲載を望まなかったのである．

COPEのフォーラムへの質問（1）我々ジャーナルには何ができるか？（2）著者の同意なしに取り下げは可能か？著者は，我々が取り下げれば，法的手段に訴えると脅してきている．

COPEからの助言フォーラムは，このケースは明らかに剽窃に当たり，別のジャーナルが関係していることから，著作権の問題の可能性もあるかもしれない，とのことで合意した．フォーラムは，COPEのガイドラインに照らし，編集者は論文の取り下げに著者の同意は必要ないと強調した．

もし編集者が取り下げの根拠があると感じるならば，編集者は著者の許可なしに論文の取り下げができる．本事例では，フォーラム構成員の半数が，剽窃と著作権の侵害により論文の取り下げに同意した．しかし一方で，剽窃には程度や重大さに差があると主張する構成員もいた．剽窃は，英語が母国語でなく，この状況下で剽窃が容認できないものであるとの認識がない著者の間で起こりうる．この事例では，データに不正はなく，剽窃は緒言の中のみにとどまっているようである．もしデータに不正がある場合には，著者がどう思おうと，編集者は著者の所属機関にこれを報告し，著者の主張を取り消すのが妥当であろう．しかし，この事例の場合は，むしろ著者の側の未経験と言語の理解不足が合わさったもののようである．したがって，我々の助言は，修正または懸念の表明を掲載すること，およびこの種のふるまいは容認できないという厳しい手紙を著者宛に書くこととした．結果として，フォーラムは，取り下げの推奨，修正の掲載・著者への断固とした非難という 2つの意見に均等に分かれた．結局は編集者が決定することであるが，編集者は，どのような行動をとる予定かを著者全員に知らせる方がよい．

その後の経過ジャーナルは，その論文を取り下げた．

決議：解決済　年：2013年

The main points we would like to point out from this case are the following: 1) the problem was brought to light

by a reader of the journal; 2) the author agreed to only having a correction published, as a retraction would damage

his/her career, and threatened legal action if retracted; 3) the COPE Forum was divided about retracting the article

because of the degree of plagiarism, but the journal decided to retract.

Looking at these main points, it can be said that plagiarism, which can occur more frequently among non-native

English speakers, perhaps due to lack of awareness, can result in the retraction of an article regardless of the degree

or severity of plagiarism. Once it has been decided to retract the article, the journal will promptly do so and will

publish a notification of retraction that will include a complete citation to the original article and reasons for

retraction 4 ). The retraction notice will also appear in the table of contents in both print and online versions. In

addition, the validity of other previously published works in the journal by the offending authors will be questioned.

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The ICMJE Recommendations suggest to editors to ask the authors’ institutions to provide assurance of the validity

of earlier work published in their journals or to retract those as well 5 ).

It is plain to see that the issue of plagiarism is taken extremely seriously, and probably more so in western

countries than in Japan. The cultural differences in the perspectives toward plagiarism, and its consequences, is one

aspect that cannot be overlooked. For example, in the U.S. or U.K., where the culture places much weight on

expressing one’s opinion and beliefs, children from a very early age are educated about the importance of respecting

other people’s words, opinions, and beliefs, and the wrongfulness of stealing them. Therefore, in higher education

institutions, students may even be expelled from a school for plagiarizing.

The situation is quite different in Japan, especially among authors who need to write in a non-native language,

who feel that copying a certain phrase, sentence, or paragraph from an English source is acceptable. One recent

example, is that of the logo for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, in which a Belgian artist complained that his design had

been stolen by the Japanese designer, Sano, who later admitted copying materials online 6 ).

Closing Message

It can be said that there is a clear difference in the sensitivity and moral responsibility toward plagiarism

depending on the country and the culture that surrounds its people.

Such differences and unethical behavior can be academically fatally damaged, especially in the case of

researchers, whose careers may be damaged by one single case of misconduct, whether or not it was intentional.

References

 1) The Committee on Publication Ethics. http://publicationethics.org/cases [Accessed December 5, 2017]. 2) Kojima T, Barron JP. Protect Yourself from Plagiarism. The Japanese Journal of Gastroenterological Surgery. 2016;49(11):

1179–80. 3) The Committee on Publication Ethics. https://publicationethics.org/case/case-plagiarism-0 [Accessed December 1, 2017]. 4) American Medical Association. AMA manual of style: a guide for authors and editors. 10th ed. New York: Oxford University

Press; 2007. Chapter 5, Ethical and Legal Considerations. 5) International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Scientific Misconduct, Expressions of Concern, and Retraction. http://

www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/scientific-misconduct-expressions-of-concern-and-retraction.html [Accessed December 5, 2017].

 6) BBC News. Tokyo 2020 Olympics logo scrapped amid plagiarism claim. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34115750[Accessed December 6, 2017].

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