'Missourian' Drops J-School Professor's Column -- For Plagiarism

By: Joe Strupp The Columbia (Mo.) Missourian, a daily newspaper staffed with University of Missouri students, has dropped a column by a journalism professor after revealing he had lifted elements of it from another student publication.

Tom Warhover, Missourian executive editor for innovation, announced the action in a column late Friday, which also accompanied a posting of the paper's plagiarism policy.

"Last Sunday, columnist John Merrill wrote about the MU Women?s and Gender Studies Program," Warhover wrote. "Quotes and other phrases in the column were repeated directly from an Oct. 5 article in The Maneater without crediting that newspaper or the article?s author, Anna Koeppel. ?

"That was wrong.? Missourian policy does not allow any writer to appropriate someone else?s words as his own, even when those words are within quotation marks," he added. "In the column, three quotes, and about half a sentence, were taken from Koeppel?s story.? Several journalists and journalism educators I spoke with referred to the use as the ethical equivalent of a misdemeanor, not a felony. ?I believe the Missourian, and the School of Journalism, must hold itself to a higher standard."

The editor also cited the paper's policy, saying it bars ?using material from other publications without attribution....

"As such, the Missourian will no longer run columns by Professor Merrill.? Koeppel talked to me on Tuesday. I discussed the incident with Merrill, a professor emeritus at the Missouri School of Journalism, on Wednesday. He apologized in a letter on Thursday.?"

Merrill's letter said, in part, ?Let me say first that I am truly sorry about the plagiarism in my column about Women?s and Gender Studies. I thought I had mentioned The Maneater as the source from which I got the few and scattered quotes I used to spin off into my column. I always am sensitive to that. I thought I had done it in that column and was really surprised, when you called me in, to find that I had neglected to do this."

He then stated, ?But I assure you that it was ?unintentional? plagiarism, and I had no reason to make it look as if I got these quotes from the sources directly. I was using them as a springboard for my opinion. But I did it, and I?m sorry. Careless, I?ll admit, but not intentional."

Warhover also wrote that the Missourian reviewed the past year's worth of columns by Merrill and that "none had the same amount of lifted material as the one Sunday; however, there were five more columns in which at least one quote had been taken from other publications without attribution. ?By directly quoting sources, Professor Merrill implies to the reader that he spoke with those people."