Copy and Paste

I was asked to plagiarize this week by a good friend of mine who is a student here.

Hodeis (pronounced ho-DAEES) from Persia was sent an 11-page paper from her brother, and I got a phone call asking if I could help with the English, rearranging things so it would still make sense. "English isn't our first language, and I know it is yours--could you help me?" Of course I could, and I assured that it would only take a couple of hours. Assuming the work I'd be doing was grammatical editing.

But when I got back--the night I got back from Goa, already exhausted--she showed me the 11-page single spaced research paper on molecular biology. I was already intimidated because I know absolutely nothing about molecular biology aside from the bare basics I've learned in school.

Hodeis kept talking about copy and paste, copy and paste. I realized the entire 11 pages had been plagiarized, and I asked her about it. "No, not plagiarized, just copied and pasted." I had to explain to her that this would get me expelled from my home university. "But you're not at your home university, you're here." I told her that I could help her (as I promised I'd do) if she could write the paper (or, who would think, send it back to her brother and have him do it!), and no matter how bad the English was, I could help.

She was pretty upset.

Our friend Miriam from Iraq was hanging out in the room with us, and sometimes Hodeis would speak to her (Persian, Arabic, I couldn't tell) and Miriam would translate. What really upset me was that she would say a lot to Miriam, they would have a short dialogue, and I would get one sentence of translation. I don't imagine Hodeis wanted to have me over for a slumber party.

What troubled me even more though was when I talked to my friend Ali about it, and he said it happens all the time. He's finishing his PhD, and just a few days before he gave his final presentation on his three years of work, one of his friends asked him if he could put his name on the paper as well. "I need it for my degree, and I don't have it done." He said it as blatantly as that! Ali wouldn't do it, and later that day the same guy went to our other friend Ahmed and asked him the same thing! And he got upset when Ahmed said no!

Plagiarism happens all the time in undergrad studies in the U.S., but not entire papers. I don't think anyone is that stupid. Heck, I've skirted plagiarism here and there, but only when someone else can say what I want to say better than I can say it. And never for a huge project. But it's happening here and the PhD level. I'm still so appalled by it! This is supposed to be one of the best schools in India, and it's ranked the best school for physical sciences. I just don't get it!