Editing plagiarized content

amother

Blonde

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 12:48 pm

I'm just starting out in the proofreading/editing field, and I'm desperate for jobs. I got a steady job working on a project with someone who is self-publishing, and they just gave me some text to proofread that is definitely plagiarized. Some of the language seemed to be much higher level than the rest of it, so I googled one sentence, and found the entire section in a published book.

Should I say something? I really need the job right now, but I don't feel comfortable going along with this. We already had a "clash of conscience" over something else, and I very reluctantly decided to continue working for them, because it's the only steady option I had. And now this.

WWYD?

Lizzie4

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 12:51 pm

Don't work for them.
You don't want to get stuck when this can blow up into a big issue.

Tell them something came up and they will have to look for someone else.
Something better will come up.

amother

Blonde

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 1:18 pm

OOTforlife wrote:

You could play naive and just add quotation marks and a citation in the appropriate places, and see how they react.

That's a good idea, but don't you need to get permission from the publisher to cite verbatim? I have to check that out.

I can't turn down the job, because I already worked on this document for about an hour before I got to the plagiarized part.

singleagain

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 1:20 pm

amother wrote:

are you certain there is no bibliography at the end... perhaps, they figured you would edit the citation in...

but I would think, you can and should be able to bill for the hour you worked and cancel if it comes to that

Fox

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 1:22 pm

OOTforlife wrote:

You could play naive and just add quotation marks and a citation in the appropriate places, and see how they react.

This. In fact, that's part of your job as an editor.

We don't really know whether your client is cynically hoping to pass off someone else's work as his/her own or whether it was a mistake born of carelessness or laziness. But if I were paying someone to edit my work, I would definitely expect that person to catch such problems.

perquacky

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 1:25 pm

Contact the author, tell them what you discovered, and ask them how they'd like you to handle it. As a footnote? Endnote? Suggest to them that they get permission from the original publisher.

I would continue working on the text. There is a slight (very slight) chance the author didn't realize what they were doing, and they may be grateful that you caught it.

OOTforlife

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 1:28 pm

amother wrote:

I don't know. I have always been under the impression that brief excerpts could be quoted verbatim freely. I don't know how much is too much. If it's several pages of text, another option for playing super dumb might be to pretend you think she made an honest mistake and attached the wrong document. "Oops, looks like you sent me one of your sources. Let me know when the manuscript is available." That would be quite transparent, but it might narrowly avoid an all-out confrontation.

It's a bad situation. Sorry Sad

amother

Blonde

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 1:37 pm

Thanks all.

The guy I'm working with is not the author - he's publishing some sort of compilation. I have no access to the actual authors.

The writer of this particular text seems to be a very sheltered, chassidishe person (which is how I picked up on the language difference right away), and may not know that plagiarism is a problem.

It's a smallish section, so I'll just add the citation and see what happens. I don't want to get into a confrontation with my client at this point, because I need the money so badly Sad

PAMOM

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 1:46 pm

Use correct citation format. If the section is too long to include in its entirety even with a citation, use appropriate editing techniques to include and cite. Do you want recommendations for sites that will tell you how to break up a long section to include and cite? Or I can tell you briefly.

SixOfWands

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 1:59 pm

amother wrote:

Would it be appropriate to flag it to your employer? "This passage seems to have been taken from another work. Absent permission, it may constitute a copyright infringement. How do you want me to handle it?"

WhatFor

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 2:06 pm

If there's an indication that they don't care about integrity in publication, I personally would be looking for new work asap as I would not want my name associated with them. Especially if this was the field in which I wanted to build my career.

You could undermine your own credibility as an editor by working for them. But you can first let your employer know and see how they react. Maybe they don't want their writers plagiarising either.

PAMOM

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 2:08 pm

6--it's not necessarily a copyright infringement --depends on length. Are we talking a few paragraphs to a few pages or a whole article?

Fox

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 2:09 pm

SixOfWands wrote:

This, 100 percent. Given that your client is creating a compilation, he/she likely doesn't realize that there's a plagiarism problem. Which is precisely why you were hired.

Just listen to everything Six says and do it. Except about politics. Then listen to me. Very Happy

perquacky

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 2:10 pm

PAMOM wrote:

6--it's not necessarily a copyright infringement --depends on length. Are we talking a few paragraphs to a few pages or a whole article?

Even a few paragraphs would require a citation, although it would likely not be necessary to gain permission from the publisher to print the text.

amother

Green

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 2:25 pm

We just had a horrifying story in a magazine where I work: The author plagiarized content, published with us, and then went and resold it to another magazine immediately after ours had printed.

It was mortifying. Downright disgusting.

Drop that author. (Wondering if it is the same one????) Is there a "B" in the first name? That person has no morals and may hurt you in the long run.

amother

Seagreen

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 2:29 pm

PAMOM wrote:

6--it's not necessarily a copyright infringement --depends on length. Are we talking a few paragraphs to a few pages or a whole article?

There is absolutely no black line as to the length of a taking that will, or will not, constitute copyright infringement. As little as a few words may constitute copyright infringement. As little as a few seconds of a song, or a portion of a photograph. In the Ringgold case, a copyright infringement was found when a poster was used in the background on a television show for 27 seconds. In Nation Enterprises, use of an excerpt from Ford's memoir was found to be a copyright violation. There are attorneys whose careers are dedicated to reviewing matters of this kind, particularly evaluating whether something is a transformative work. Its not something that anyone should be opining on via social media.

BasMelech120

Thu, Jun 22 2017, 5:50 pm

You can offer to ghost-write these sections instead of them using the plagiarized version. Perhaps you can ask them what point they want to get across, and coach them to write it themselves. It can be an empowering opportunity for both of you.