A prominent scientist and advisor to the Prime Minister's Office was in the news recently for an incident related to plagiarism. While this is not a first in the academic community, it has certainly been the most prominent. Rahul Siddharthan, a scientist with the Chennai Mathematical Institute writing in the Hindu dated 9th March'2012, states that in a conference on academic ethics that he helped organize, " many of the speakers" observed that "students have a limited understanding of what plagiarism is" and that the "Indian education system was squarely blamed". R. Prasad, reporting the incident in the Hindu dated 9th March'2012 quotes Prof. Krupanidhi, one of those accused along with a doctoral student and the eminent CNR Rao- "though it is regrettable the lines appeared only in the introduction and does not relate to the actual work done". Also in a PTI report, CNR Rao said that the ‘student was responsible’. While it has understandably led to anger amongst the scientific community and perhaps shame to the authors, I will step back from the incident itself and examine some deeper issues that need to be addressed if we are to ensure that such instances of academic malfeasance don’t occur again.
1 A question of Responsibility- The senior authors in question, seemed to put the blame squarely on the doctoral student who did the bulk of the writing. While this may be factually true what is more troubling that the student lifting lines is that his professors seemed to brush away all sense of responsibility. In other words they left the students to the dogs. Is it not the responsibility of the senior authors to read, review and then do so again before it is sent for publication? Is that too much to expect? Or is it an Indian problem- one that is echoed in the boardrooms of many multinationals that want to set up office here-people simply don’t take responsibility…
2) A question of shame- The authors in question, while accusing the student, issued a deft apology that said, quoting from R. Prasad’s article in the Hindu dated 9th March’2012, that “the [plagiarized] lines occurred only in the introduction”. While this was perhaps the best opportunity for the senior scientists to issue an honest apology and thereby set examples of them having admitted to their mistakes, they chose to take the easier route. This reflects a lack of shame. One can also categorize this as a disease of the Indian Alpha male.
3) A question of history, culture and systems- “He who travels around the Universe three times fastest will get the mango” announced Lord Shiva to his two sons, Ganesa and Murugan as his wife Godess Parvathy looked on. Both Ganesa and Murugan wanted the mango and were unwilling to share. It was after all not a mere fruit but one that contained all the universe’s knowledge. While Murugan was immediately off, Ganesa, the elder of the two was slow to start. In no time, Murugan was back only to find his brother at his parent’s feet with the mango. While he had painstakingly gone around the Universe his brother merely circled his parents thrice. He tells his parents that they are his universe, impressed and charmed by his intelligence, they hand him the fruit.In this ancient Indian myth that my grandmother narrated to me when I was young, she did not mention that Ganesa cheated. Yet today Murugan is not even a tiny bit as popular as his brother that did not follow the rules.
Anna Hazare and his followers, in trying to ensure that corruption ends, have still not cracked the case. It needs to begin at a young age. Corruption can only end when the student that copies is chided by his friends and not admired, when the rule-breaker is punished, when the guy jumping the signal is caught… Till the time this “admiration for those who beat the system and call it jugaad” ends plagiarism will continue unabated.
