Editor of psychology journal plagarizes a previously submitted manuscript

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DynamicDidactic

DynamicDidactic

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Here is the twitter thread


For those that look through the threads, you should be able to locate the journal (this is more of a professional journal than academic) and person responsible for the insane level of plagiarism and general impropriety. This is a person that has been in numerous positions of power in APA, the National Register, and the RxP movement.
 
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Sanman said:
I cannot, for the life of me, understand why the article was plagarized in the first place. One author is retired and the other is a judge with no publications. Not exactly trying to get ahead in academia then.
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The author is also the editor of that journal. I guess he really wanted this article to be in his journal. What may be getting missed is that the editor wanted to amend the original article so much that the original authors retracted their submission. He took it onto himself to plagiarize their work and mutate it into something they never intended it to be.
 
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cara susanna said:
If you read the thread enough, apparently Springer is aware of the issue and working on it (including a retraction).
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The issue is not with Springer. Springer only publishes the journal through its outlets. The journal is owned and run by a popular psychological association. This group should be talking about removing the editor above and beyond retracting the article.
 
WisNeuro said:
Guy should definitely have any APA membership revoked and be formally censured for this. Unfortunate as some of his past work has been very beneficial to the field and APA.
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I have not renewed my APA membership but is this topic at all being discussed on any APA listserv?
 
PsyDr said:
1) We know what cognition in healthy aging looks like.
2) We know that people can't move up into leadership positions until senior psychologists vacate that seat.
3) The fact that someone is in practice for FORTY EIGHT YEARS is troubling in those lights.
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Maybe he let's younger psychologists do all the work but simply takes the credit at the end?

Hey, are we being cancel culture?
 
DynamicDidactic said:
Maybe he let's younger psychologists do all the work but simply takes the credit at the end?

Hey, are we being cancel culture?
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Maybe he went from completing his PhD to a senior leadership position in 16 years. Maybe that leadership position was unavailable to others for 31 years. Maybe other people had to wait 31 years instead of 16 years, which is maybe unfair.
 
DynamicDidactic said:
Maybe he let's younger psychologists do all the work but simply takes the credit at the end?

Hey, are we being cancel culture?
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That would not surprise me, but the lead author is not a young guy. He is an older judge and forensic psychologist that has not really published (and ironically in involved in attorney ethics adjudication in AZ). The second author had access to the original article. I don't get the editor really wanting it in the journal either. Easy enough to publish it "accidentally" in the Journal after the article was pulled with the original authors names. Plagiarism is rarely a group effort.
 
Sanman said:
That would not surprise me, but the lead author is not a young guy. He is an older judge and forensic psychologist that has not really published (and ironically in involved in attorney ethics adjudication in AZ). The second author had access to the original article. I don't get the editor really wanting it in the journal either. Easy enough to publish it "accidentally" in the Journal after the article was pulled with the original authors names. Plagiarism is rarely a group effort.
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I have worked with the guy, a little bit. My guess is he was upset that they pulled the article and this was retaliation. If there are any SDN members that are a part of the organization that runs the journal, I would recommend asking that he be removed.
 
DynamicDidactic said:
Maybe he let's younger psychologists do all the work but simply takes the credit at the end?

Hey, are we being cancel culture?
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Accusations of plagiarism might take away this guy's livelihood -- how is that fair? How dare this person take to twitter to voice her concerns? /s
 
I see this as distinctly different than some of the previous discussions about academic openness and free speech. There's really no grey area here, this is clearly against clear guidelines in the publication process as well as ethical guidelines. This wasn't about voicing an opinion on a controversial topic, it was just stealing a product from someone.
 
beginner2011 said:
Accusations of plagiarism might take away this guy's livelihood -- how is that fair? How dare this person take to twitter to voice her concerns? /s
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WisNeuro said:
I see this as distinctly different than some of the previous discussions about academic openness and free speech. There's really no grey area here, this is clearly against clear guidelines in the publication process as well as ethical guidelines. This wasn't about voicing an opinion on a controversial topic, it was just stealing a product from someone.
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I guess I was trying to point out that I am not sure what is meant by cancel culture and this is my first time being on the side of "fire that guy" for an something they did. I guess, does general ethical (and maybe legal) behavior that leads to support for firing someone fall under cancel culture? Or is that more when the issue is socially divisive?

I am also pretty sure this guy will not be significantly fiscally harmed from retiring this position.
 
DynamicDidactic said:
I guess I was trying to point out that I am not sure what is meant by cancel culture and this is my first time being on the side of "fire that guy" for an something they did. I guess, does general ethical (and maybe legal) behavior that leads to support for firing someone fall under cancel culture? Or is that more when the issue is socially divisive?

I am also pretty sure this guy will not be significantly fiscally harmed from retiring this position.
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My personal take on definition of cancel culture is something that is not illegal, or clearly wrong, but something that a group finds offensive or distasteful. I feel that this case wouldn't fit that bill as he did something that is clearly wrong from almost any virepoint or guideline you use to look at it. I doubt you'll find a third party to defend this action.
 
WisNeuro said:
My personal take on definition of cancel culture is something that is not illegal, or clearly wrong, but something that a group finds offensive or distasteful. I feel that this case wouldn't fit that bill as he did something that is clearly wrong from almost any virepoint or guideline you use to look at it. I doubt you'll find a third party to defend this action.
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What are ethical guidelines if not the formalized description of behaviors that "a group finds offensive or distasteful"? If there's one thing the last 12 months has learned me it's that you can almost always find a third party to defend almost any action. If your definition of cancel culture is public statements criticizing behavior that "a third party would defend" then what criticism isn't cancel culture?

Speaking of which, did you see the documentary on the flat earthers? Fascinating stuff.
 
beginner2011 said:
What are ethical guidelines if not the formalized description of behaviors that "a group finds offensive or distasteful"? If there's one thing the last 12 months has learned me it's that you can almost always find a third party to defend almost any action. If your definition of cancel culture is public statements criticizing behavior that "a third party would defend" then what criticism isn't cancel culture?

Speaking of which, did you see the documentary on the flat earthers? Fascinating stuff.
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Well, here ethical guidelines are formalized sets of rules that all individuals who practice psychology agreed to prior to licensure in the field, or before acting as editor, or in publishing a manuscript. These are actually codified, much like state statutes. Cancel culture sits in a separate field that at it's edge seeks to stamp out any dissent to what it considers orthodoxy. These are definitely different cases by mist definitions.

Haven't yet, but I have heard good things about it. Was that made before or after that ***** killed himself in a homemade rocket to "prove" the conspiracy theory?
 
In my view, true cancel culture = "You are fired from your job in pharmaceuticals because you posted something inappropriate 10 years ago on facebook"

Like almost everything these days, I think we've become too black & white in our views on it. I'm fine with people losing their jobs for being over-the-top jerks in their personal life. Frankly, I think there are too few consequences for being a jerk in modern society. At the same time, there are limits. It is one thing to cancel someone because they have a long history of committing sexual assault that recently came to light. Quite another to cancel someone because they voted for a candidate you don't like. Most cases fall somewhere in between and I think the devil is in the details. Sometimes I agree and sometimes I don't. Putting financial pressure on people (and businesses) that do things you consider unethical is very reasonable in my view, but it can go too far. We don't need to make a definitive judgment on cancel culture as being good or bad, we can acknowledge shades of grey.

I have no idea what cancel culture has to do with the present situation though. Taking the accusation at face value, this is more like suggesting someone should get fired because they robbed the cash register, punched their boss in the throat and then set the building on fire. They should have the chance to defend themselves and be placed on leave in the interim, but I can't envision any situation something like this emerges from anything besides ill intentions or a truly unfathomable level of incompetence.
 
I will say that personally I don't take accusations of cancel culture very seriously. I recognize that part of that is likely due to the fact that -- as one with minimal popular or institutional power -- I have very little to lose by the threat of cancel culture. Another reason I think I don't take it very seriously is that it's my opinion that for every 1000 use cases there are about 5-10 that I would agree constitute an actual inappropriate/irresponsible threat to honest discourse or safety. And even in those 5-10 cases I think there are usually more fitting/legal critiques than calling the behavior "cancel culture".

@Ollie
I totally agree that this discussion isn't really germane to the actual topic. I was amused that for once I wasn't the one sarcastically bringing it up!
 
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