“Plagiarism is commonly seen as a grievous scholarly sin – as a form of cheating. Most attention is focused on students. Some universities have adopted text-matching software such as Turnitin to detect and deter plagiarism. Students have little recourse when caught out.
But when a prominent figure is accused of plagiarism, the dynamics can be rather different. Julie Bishop, former minister of education and now deputy leader of the opposition, is listed as the author of a chapter in a new book edited by Peter van Onselen titled Liberals and Power. Passages in the chapter were taken, without acknowledgement, from a speech by New Zealand businessman Roger Kerr.
Bishop’s chief of staff Murray Hansen generously took responsibility. He said he had written Bishop’s chapter and had committed the plagiarism. But if Hansen wrote the chapter, why was Bishop listed as the author?”
Brian Martin. When ghosts plagiarise. ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 31 October 2008, http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/31/2406376.htm On the plagiarism by the ghostwriter for politican Julie Bishop.