Monday, November 22, 2010

UPI plagiarizes USA Today about Seminal Report Debunking Global Warming Statistics

A USA Today article published this morning claiming "plagiarism" was present in the seminal Wegman report on faulty global warming science was blatantly plagiarized a few hours later by copycats at United Press International. Here are the plagiarized paragraphs in sequential order (with the only significant findings of both highlighted):

USA Today:
An influential 2006 congressional report that raised questions about the validity of global warming research was partly based on material copied from textbooks, Wikipedia and the writings of one of the scientists criticized in the report, plagiarism experts say.

Review of the 91-page report by three experts contacted by USA TODAY found repeated instances of passages lifted word for word and what appear to be thinly disguised paraphrases.

UPI:
A 2006 congressional report criticizing global warming research contains material plagiarized from textbooks, Wikipedia and other sources, experts say.

Three plagiarism experts examining the 91-page Wegman report found numerous passages lifted word for word and repeated instances of only thinly disguised paraphrases, USA Today reported Monday.

USA Today:
The charges of plagiarism don't negate one of the basic premises of the report — that climate scientists used poor statistics in two widely noted papers.

But the allegations come as some in Congress call for more investigations of climate scientists like the one that produced the Wegman report.

"It kind of undermines the credibility of your work criticizing others' integrity when you don't conform to the basic rules of scholarship," Virginia Tech plagiarism expert Skip Garner says.

UPI:
While claims of plagiarism don't affect the report's basic conclusion, that climate scientists had used unreliable data in two widely disseminated papers on global warming, they come at an awkward time for some in Congress urging more investigations of climate scientists involved in the global warming debate.

"It kind of undermines the credibility of your work criticizing others' integrity when you don't conform to the basic rules of scholarship," Virginia Tech plagiarism expert Skip Garner says.

USA Today:
"The report was integral to congressional hearings about climate scientists," says Aaron Huertas of the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C. "And it preceded a lot of conspiratorial thinking polluting the public debate today about climate scientists."

The report was requested in 2005 by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, then the head of the House energy committee. Barton cited the report in an October letter to The Washington Post when he wrote that Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann's work was "rooted in fundamental errors of methodology that had been cemented in place as 'consensus' by a closed network of friends."

Lisa Miller, a spokeswoman for Barton, reiterated the congressman's support of the Wegman report on Monday, saying it "found significant statistical issues" with climate studies.

UPI:
"The report was integral to congressional hearings about climate scientists," Aaron Huertas of the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington said. "And it preceded a lot of conspiratorial thinking polluting the public debate today about climate scientists."

The report was requested in 2005 by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, then head of the House energy committee.

Lisa Miller, a spokeswoman for Barton, said the congressman still supports the Wegman report, saying it "found significant statistical issues" with climate studies. 

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