Dear Colleagues,
I may relate a similar experience with a much more low profile book by me --Mythological and rirtual symbolism 1984 Calcutta. The fourth and fifth chapters (194 - 208) were verbatim copied without any acknowledgement or reference to my work in a book published by a reputed publisher of Delhi. I wrote to them, they did not reply. My solicitor advised purchasing a copy for production if I wanted to start legal proceedings. I wanted to purchase. Again, the publishers were silent. In the mean time my book went out of print.
It requires so much energy and resources to carry on legal proceedings that one engaged in work often gives up.

With best wishes for all and collegial sympathy for co-sufferers.

DB

 

On Fri, Jul 31, 2015 at 1:50 AM, Jan E.M. Houben <jemhouben@gmail.com> wrote:

Indology and plagiarism

Apart from borderline cases there are also cases of undeniable massive plagiarism. 

One case was discussed long ago by Roy Andrew Miller (JAOS 115.2 [1995]: 343-344), and 

a new episode in the same case history was discussed eight years later, now twelve years 

ago, by me (AS/EA 57.1 [2003] p 163, author's copy academia.edu/7196478/ p 55). 

From a quick online search I infer that the publication based on massive 

plagiarizing is apparently still for sale and present in university libraries. 

Some similarities with the current case under discussion, except, I hope, quantitatively:

R Diekstra, till 1997 prof of psychology at Univ of Leiden: those who discovered textual 

borrowings which were not or very incompletely acknowledged were aggressively attacked by a

dherents of their favourite public intellectual Diekstra, his sources were (page after page) 

from sources relatively unknown to his target public (dutch readers on psychotherapy), he 

claimed to be working in haste for a higher aim (helping those needing psychotherapy). 

http://linguafranca.mirror.theinfo.org/9704/fn9704.html

This could be a suitable occasion for the Indology List, the ONLY ONLINE FORUM IN THE WORLD 

since 2001 specializing in academic exchange for bona fide scholars, "east" 

and "west", in Indology and classical South Asia studies, to give a stronger profile

to Indology's "brand name". 

Would there be any harm if the current dvārapālas of the Indology List specify

"Indology"'s position on plagiarism in the Guidelines, for instance that the 

hypothetic case of plagiarizing (at least if it is massive?) leads to cancellation 

of full membership (should have been self-evident but perhaps it is not), and that 

emphatic encouragement and condoning of plagiarism leads to first a warning next to 

suspension of full membership? Pro-plagiarists and those in favour of plagiarism 

leniency may feel irritated through such explicit stance but 95% others would either 

welcome it or consider it self-evident. 

This move could liberate bandwidth of the List for more useful and interesting topics and 

issues. 

Jan Houben 

      

Jan E.M. HOUBEN

Directeur d’Études

Sources et histoire de la tradition sanskrite

École Pratique des Hautes Études

Sciences historiques et philologiques 

54, rue Saint-Jacques

CS 20525 – 75005 Paris

johannes.houben@ephe.sorbonne.fr

https://ephe-sorbonne.academia.edu/JanEMHouben

www.ephe.fr

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