Looking back at events that took place during the past year is one of favorite things to do. This year I am recounting a few of the best plagiarism events in 2011.

The relationship between authors and publishers has been rapidly evolving along with the digital age.  Many authors have taken to publishing their own books through large online e-book sellers like Amazon and distributing on platforms like the Kindle and iPad.  Not only do services like these provide streamlined publishing and distribution pathways, but they also offer authors a larger cut of profits than they would get with a traditional publisher.

Techdirt recently published a very interesting article that examines the current state of copyright in academia.  Building off of an article from QuestionCopyright, Techdirt columnist Glyn Moody poses the question of whether copyright is being effectively utilized for academics.  The logic essentially says that academics are more interested in getting attribution for the ideas in their papers, rather than protecting the paper's specific wording.

I had the opportunity to speak with Eric Kissel of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, who discussed how iThenticate has enabled them to block plagiarism from their assessment reports.

Journalists and bloggers seem to be at the forefront of the fight against literary plagiarism it seems. With the recent exposure of several high profile and respected authors and the shock felt about this in the literary world, a watershed has been reached. Hodder & Stoughton’s statement on one notorious case involving Q.R. Markham (the pen name of bookseller Quentin Rowan) set a benchmark for others in the publishing industry:

iThenticate, leading plagiarism checker software, had a remarkable year in 2011, reaching new milestones with record CrossCheck publisher membership, customer adoption and scholarly content growth.

Lately, plagiarism has become a hot topic in the news. Over the past several years high profile cases have come to the forefront of major news outlets and given the issue of plagiarism a renewed sense of urgency. Each of these plagiarism cases has its own unique ‘plot’; including a cast of characters involved, a timeline of events, and a final result or judgement for the perpetrators. In a way, the public has become attracted to these cases for much the same reasons that they are drawn to reality television: the drama.