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The extent and causes of academic text recycling or ‘self-plagiarism’

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  • Horbach, S.P.J.M.(Serge)
  • Halffman, W.(Willem)

Abstract

Among the various forms of academic misconduct, text recycling or ‘self-plagiarism’ holds a particularly contentious position as a new way to game the reward system of science. A recent case of alleged ‘self-plagiarism’ by the prominent Dutch economist Peter Nijkamp has attracted much public and regulatory attention in the Netherlands. During the Nijkamp controversy, it became evident that many questions around text recycling have only partly been answered and that much uncertainty still exists. While the conditions of fair text reuse have been specified more clearly in the wake of this case, the extent and causes of problematic text recycling remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the extent of problematic text recycling in order to obtain understanding of its occurrence in four research areas: biochemistry & molecular biology, economics, history and psychology. We also investigated some potential reasons and motives for authors to recycle their text, by testing current hypotheses in scholarly literature regarding the causes of text recycling. To this end, an analysis was performed on 922 journal articles, using the Turnitin plagiarism detection software, followed by close manual interpretation of the results. We observed considerable levels of problematic text recycling, particularly in economics and psychology, while it became clear that the extent of text recycling varies substantially between research fields. In addition, we found evidence that more productive authors are more likely to recycle their papers. In addition, the analysis provides insight into the influence of the number of authors and the existence of editorial policies on the occurrence of problematic text recycling.

Suggested Citation

  • Horbach, S.P.J.M.(Serge) & Halffman, W.(Willem), 2019. "The extent and causes of academic text recycling or ‘self-plagiarism’," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 492-502.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:48:y:2019:i:2:p:492-502
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2017.09.004
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    2. Orhan, Mehmet A. & van Rossenberg, Yvonne & Bal, P. Matthijs, 2024. "Authorship inequality and elite dominance in management and organizational research: A review of six decades," OSF Preprints tzx92, Center for Open Science.
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    4. Orhan, Mehmet A. & van Rossenberg, Yvonne & Bal, P. Matthijs, 2024. "Authorship inequality and elite dominance in management and organizational research: A review of six decades," OSF Preprints tzx92_v1, Center for Open Science.
    5. Wen-Yau Cathy Lin, 2020. "Self-plagiarism in academic journal articles: from the perspectives of international editors-in-chief in editorial and COPE case," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(1), pages 299-319, April.
    6. Qin Zhang & Juneman Abraham & Hui-Zhen Fu, 2020. "Collaboration and its influence on retraction based on retracted publications during 1978–2017," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(1), pages 213-232, October.
    7. Mohan, Vijay, 2019. "On the use of blockchain-based mechanisms to tackle academic misconduct," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    8. Pfeil, Katharina & Necker, Sarah & Feld, Lars P., 2023. "Compliance management in research institutes: Boon or bane?," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 23/1, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    9. Chekeny, Nixon S. & Misra, Sukant, 2024. "Responsible Conduct of Research for Graduate Students: What Should 69 They Know?," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 6(3), October.
    10. Mehmet A Orhan & Yvonne G T van Rossenberg & P. Matthijs Bal, 2023. "Authorship inequality and elite dominance in management and organizational research: A review of six decades," Post-Print hal-04966164, HAL.

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