Dive Brief:
- The provost of the U.S. Army War College said Wednesday that the college will begin an investigation immediately into allegations that U.S. Sen. John Walsh (D, MT) plagiarized much of his master’s thesis paper while attending the school.
- Walsh, a decorated Iraq war veteran, wrote at least a quarter of his master’s thesis on American Middle East policy by copying from the work of others without attribution, according to The New York Times.
- Army War College Provost Lance Betros said the college will run the paper through an online plagiarism detection program, and if it produces evidence of a possible violation, an academic review board would determine if Walsh committed plagiarism. The school’s commandant would determine punishment.
Dive Insight:
The college takes plagiarism seriously, and the Times article lays out a pretty airtight case that Walsh copied extensively from other works without attribution — including an almost word-for-word reproduction of another work — in writing his six recommendations in the conclusion of the paper. According to its student handbook, plagiarism is punished with disenrollment, and academic fraud has led to degrees being rescinded and names being scraped off campus plaques honoring graduates. Betros, the provost, said students are repeatedly reminded of the policy and that Walsh’s case will be treated no differently than any other.