Home Viewpoint: The spectre of plagiarism haunting Europe By Debora Weber-Wulff Professor of Media and Computing, University of -- -- A spectre is haunting Europe, and this time it is the spectre of plagiarism and scientific misconduct. Some high-profile politicians have had to resign in the last 18 months - but the revelations are also shaking respected European universities. -- -- Many European countries, especially Germany, have long considered it unnecessary to give plagiarism more than a cursory look. One trusts in the self-cleansing powers of science, end of story. -- -- Last February, a reviewer of German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg's doctoral dissertation discovered and documented some plagiarised passages. When the papers pounced on this, zu Guttenberg denied any wrongdoing, -- -- That was not the end of it. Soon it was suspected that a major ex-politician's daughter was guilty of plagiarism in her dissertation, and a new wiki was set up, VroniPlag Wiki, to document this case. Quite -- and a new wiki was set up, VroniPlag Wiki, to document this case. Quite soon plagiarism was discovered in yet another dissertation, and it has not stopped. Currently there are 27 documented cases on the site. -- -- not stopped. Currently there are 27 documented cases on the site. Fittingly, even the chapter on plagiarism was plagiarised... Elsewhere in Europe similar problems have emerged. A Romanian education -- -- Elsewhere in Europe similar problems have emerged. A Romanian education minister lasted just a week in office before having to step down, accused of plagiarising academic papers. Meanwhile, the leading scientific journal Nature has accused the -- -- Meanwhile, the leading scientific journal Nature has accused the Romanian prime minister of plagiarising part of his PhD. He denies wrongdoing and has been backed by a Research Ethics Council, but the accusations have now been upheld by two academic panels in Romania, -- -- The Hungarian president has already lost his doctorate and resigned on account of plagiarism, and the Russian Minister of Culture is facing accusations that 16 passages of his doctoral dissertation were copied from other sources. He denies the allegations. -- -- let them have their fun." However, it seems that the plague of plagiarism has also reached the level of the professorships in Germany. Those who are supposed to be teaching students have also been caught using copy and paste. Last -- -- teaching students have also been caught using copy and paste. Last month it was revealed that more than a third of a new book for law students on how to write papers properly was plagiarised, including liberal smatterings from Wikipedia. -- -- liberal smatterings from Wikipedia. Fittingly, even the chapter on plagiarism was plagiarised. And just to show how contagious the disease is, the authors also cite zu Guttenberg's dissertation - albeit incorrectly. -- -- to the VroniPlag Wiki.) Image caption VroniPlag wiki uses coloured bands to show distribution of plagiarised content In the US and the UK, universities have honour boards and ethics -- -- In the US and the UK, universities have honour boards and ethics councils and there is a wide discussion of ethical practices. There are procedures in place for dealing with plagiarism. In Germany, though, professors wanting to address plagiarism are pretty much left to their own devices. They don't have much in the way of tools or formal procedures. -- -- procedures. There is so-called plagiarism detection software available that does find some plagiarism, especially word-for-word copies. These programmes do not find everything by a long shot, but German universities are currently rushing to purchase them. -- -- been officially declared to suffer only from "technical weaknesses". But people are speaking up, and plagiarism is being discussed in every university, even if many are unsure what to do. -- -- university, even if many are unsure what to do. Better education about plagiarism and good scientific practice is essential. -- -- years needs to be reviewed in order to identify weak points. However, there is currently no funding for such measures, so it's unclear whether German universities will really get serious about plagiarism, or keep muddling on.