Plagiarism from Wikipedia explained

Contributors to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, often referred to as Wikipedians, license their submitted content under a Creative Commons license, which permits re-use as long as attribution is given. However, there have been a number of occasions when persons have failed to give the necessary attribution and attempted to pass off material from Wikipedia as their own work. Such plagiarism is a violation of the Creative Commons license and, when discovered, can be a reason for embarrassment, professional sanctions, or legal issues.

In educational settings, students sometimes copy Wikipedia to fulfill class assignments.[1] A 2011 study by Turnitin found that Wikipedia was the most copied website by both secondary and higher education students.[2]

Notable instances

Many notable individuals and institutions have been credibly said to have committed plagiarism from Wikipedia.

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Should students be allowed to use Wikipedia as a source?. South China Morning Post. 2018-08-13. en. 2018-08-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20180813175249/https://www.scmp.com/article/965525/should-students-be-allowed-use-wikipedia-source. live.
  2. News: Wikipedia, Yahoo Answers Tops for Academic Copying - Plagiarism Today. 2011-11-03. Plagiarism Today. 2018-08-13. en-US. 2018-08-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20180813175353/https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2011/11/03/wikipedia-number-most-common-destination-for-plagiarists/. live.
  3. News: A famed oncologist's bestselling new health book about 'animal secrets' got yanked off the shelves after the LA Times discovered he copied from Wikipedia . Yahoo News . 6 March 2023 . 6 January 2024 . 27 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231127153225/https://news.yahoo.com/famed-oncologists-bestselling-health-book-215904656.html . live .
  4. Web site: Elsevier retracts entire book that plagiarized heavily from Wikipedia . Retraction Watch . 2021-05-28 . 2022-09-24 . 2022-09-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220924030326/https://retractionwatch.com/2021/05/28/elsevier-retracts-entire-book-that-plagiarized-heavily-from-wikipedia/ . live .
  5. News: Alba. Davey. Davey Alba. March 29, 2020. How Russia's Troll Farm Is Changing Tactics Before the Fall Election. The New York Times. The Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency, which interfered in the 2016 election, is using different methods to hide itself better...Now Russian operators are trying to avoid detection by copying and pasting chunks of texts from other sources directly into their posts. When Facebook took down 50 accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency in October [2019], many of the posts featured text copied from Wikipedia.. March 30, 2020. January 2, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220102051615/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/29/technology/russia-troll-farm-election.html. live.
  6. Web site: Weber . Stefan . 2022-11-21 . Plagiatsfall an der Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien . 2022-11-23 . DOZ. DR. STEFAN WEBER . de-DE . 2022-11-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221122103642/https://plagiatsgutachten.com/blog/dissertationsplagiat-bildende-wien/ . live .
  7. News: Long . Katherine . Jack . Newsham . Narimes . Parakul . 5 January 2024 . Academic celebrity Neri Oxman plagiarized from Wikipedia, scholars, a textbook, and other sources without any attribution . 2024-01-06 . Business Insider . en-US . 2024-01-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240106005802/https://www.businessinsider.com/neri-oxman-plagiarize-wikipedia-mit-dissertation-2024-1 . live .
  8. News: Keynes. Soumya. Parker. George. 26 October 2023. New book from shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves lifts from Wikipedia. Financial Times. 26 October 2023. 6 January 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240106051652/https://www.ft.com/content/e4c190b0-cc4e-4dc4-945b-9f680ce1c67f?shareType=nongift. live.
  9. News: San Francisco Chronicle. Bay Area woman paid to write county history book reportedly plagiarized from Wikipedia, SF news outlets. Amanda Bartlett. June 5, 2022. After the 580-page manuscript was finally submitted by Jean McCorquodale last January, the Mercury News found that many excerpts were allegedly copied word-for-word from the websites she was drawing her research from, including a section from the Wikipedia page for politician Jonathan D. Stevenson, a paragraph from a History Channel article about the Spanish-American War's Treaty of Paris and segments from another page on the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation website.. January 6, 2024. May 10, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230510030448/https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Jean-McCorquodale-plagiarizes-Bay-Area-book-17221009.php. live.
  10. News: Markay. Lachlan. Book Alleging Biden Corruption in Ukraine Lifted Passages From Wikipedia. The Daily Beast. https://archive.today/20191003182907/https://www.thedailybeast.com/peter-schweizer-book-alleging-biden-corruption-in-ukraine-appears-to-have-lifted-passages-from-wikipedia. October 3, 2019. The Daily Beast found more than a dozen instances in which Secret Empires, the bestselling book by investigative journalist Peter Schweizer, copied nearly complete sentences or sizable portions of them verbatim or near-verbatim from other sources. In a number of instances, those sources were uncited Wikipedia pages created before the book’s publication in early 2018..
  11. Web site: 2022-02-04. Parts of Michael Gove's levelling-up plan copied from Wikipedia. 2022-02-04. The Independent. en. 2022-12-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213080622/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/levelling-up-plan-copied-wikipedia-michael-gove-b2006757.html. live.
  12. Web site: Un diputado K presentó un proyecto de ley contra el plagio, plagiado. . A deputy who presented a bill against plagiarism, plagiarized . May 14, 2010 . . February 8, 2018 . May 19, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100519132812/http://www.clarin.com/diario/2010/05/16/um/m-02195673.htm . dead .
  13. Web site: Gerónimo Vargas Aignasse - Presentó un proyecto contra el plagio y plagió a Wikipedia. . Gerónimo Vargas Aignasse-presented a project against plagiarism and plagiarized Wikipedia. . May 16, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100521192249/http://www.tn.com.ar/2010/05/16/politica/02196262.html . May 21, 2010.
  14. Web site: 2021-05-31. La Primera dama de Argentina plagia presuntamente 20 páginas de Wikipedia para su tesis. 2021-09-22. abc. es. 2021-06-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20210601141638/https://www.abc.es/internacional/abci-primera-dama-argentina-plagia-presuntamente-20-paginas-wikipedia-para-tesis-202105311437_noticia.html. live.

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