In the Middle Ages, knowledge was a collective good and copyists were the heroes who allowed the dissemination of knowledge and the arts.
With the invention of the printing press, creative work gradually became a private good. In the 18th century the first copyright laws arose and in the 19th century the rules for footnotes were established.
Still today, artistic education is based on the reproduction of classical works. Works in the public domain (no longer a monopoly of their author) or acceptable copies of them, adorn millions of homes.
There are sectors in which practically all the work is registered and the plagiarists end up paying millions in compensation.
Academic plagiarism has been detected and sanctioned in Mexico. Loss of jobs and withdrawal of awards or academic degrees have been some of the ways to punish this conduct.
For example, in 2006, the Ministry of Public Administration withdrew third place in the annual prize for Investigation into Corruption in Mexico from César Vladimir Juárez Aldana, since it was proven that he had committed plagiarism. In his work, he used several paragraphs from Gabriela Inés Montes Márquez’s doctoral thesis, but he never cited her or gave her credit. The jury decided to remove the recognition, the money for third place and ask the sanctioned to remove any mention of the award in his resume.
Ten years later, the Chilean researcher Rodrigo Núñez Arancibia lost the doctorate he studied at El Colegio de México and his work at the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo because it was found that for 11 years he plagiarized at least 12 articles and book chapters, including practically his entire doctoral thesis. This researcher also lost the support given by the National System of Researchers and incentives from the SEP. His academic career practically ended in 2015.
In that year, the writer Guillermo Sheridan dedicated a column to recounting a discovery: searching for a forgotten quote, he found an article on José Juan Tablada on the internet, which immediately caught his attention because he had studied this character.
The article, signed by Juan Pascual Gay, seemed “pretty good,” but he soon realized that it was 99 percent the same as one he published in 1993 in the magazine Vuelta, founded by Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz.
The case became relevant because Juan Pascual Gay had a doctorate in Letters, had participated in various scholarships and official incentives, and was a professor in the literary studies program at the University of San Luis.
A month after Sheridan’s complaint, the university fired him and another month later the Conacyt withdrew him for 20 years from the National System of Investigators.
At the National Autonomous University of Mexico, when there is a presumption of plagiarism, the case is brought before the university courts. If the investigation subsequently shows that the student has committed plagiarism, the punishment may be suspension for up to one year, in accordance with articles 95 and 97 of the UNAM General Statute.
In 2005, the Reforma newspaper published on the front page that Roberto Josué Bermúdez stole at least 40 paragraphs of his thesis to become a sociologist at the Maximum House of Studies. The case was relevant because Bermúdez participated in the attack on professors from the Faculty of Political Sciences organized by the General Strike Committee in 2001. Reforma reported that these events led to the expulsion of Alejandro Echeverría, better known as “El Mosh.”
Days after the revelation, the accused of plagiarism had to leave the job he had at the UNAM School of Medicine.
In August 2013, the UNAM fired the teacher Boris Berenzon Gorn, who was found to have plagiarized various works, including his master’s and doctoral theses. After pressure from the university community, the technical council of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters decided to fire the professor.
A few days ago, the plagiarism of a thesis with which Minister Yasmín Esquivel, who is a candidate to preside over the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, was exposed 35 years ago as a lawyer at UNAM. Beyond the serious fault he incurred on that occasion, the consequences that the event leaves in terms of his reputation is very serious, since applicants for this position must have an image of probity and observe impeccable conduct, attributes with which that the minister no longer counts. The case has become politicized, could it be that despite the proven plagiarism she is rewarded with the presidency of the SCJN? This would represent an indelible stain on the reputation of the Judiciary and of our Highest House of Studies.