Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Vlad Spinner]

I am Korean professor in Seoul National University.

Here are my thoughts on plagiarism in Korea:

I have the suspicion some of the rich Korean students just hire a professional ghost writer for their college papers. I wouldn't be surprised if they keep hiring pros when they go into the professional world.

Having been an editor, I know something about writing skills and styles. When you see something that is just too good, too smooth, from a job applicant with limited experience, I have learned to be suspicious. Then when you see the person's real work, it can be appalling.

When you see something from someone with limited English skills that is written like a pro, it probably is.

All it takes is money.

Speaking of money, JFK's "Profiles in Courage" was ghost written. Should have given the Pulitzer to the ghost.

But let the record show that I know a Korean who is a professor at an American college who writes beautifully in English, and it is definitely his own work. He is a real scholar and a gentleman.

So let's not over-generalize.

I am Korean professor in SNU and these are my thoughts about plagiarism in this Korea.

[thepeel]

Nice!

A common trick that Koreans (and others, of course) is to translate a dissertation or article from an obscure journal or university in America into their native tongue. Very few schools (I've only heard of a few that do this, and never been to one) translate articles in order to demonstrate they were not stolen. So, you drink your head off at SNU for 4 years and then pay some bilingual individual to translate a proper article. Then you "graduate" and boss the world around for the rest of your life.

In my grad school, a Burmese student translated his masters thesis from Japanese to English. I don't know how he got caught, but he got caught.

[Homer]

I think some of you need to re-visit some of our esteemed schools back home or go online and check out how many sites are devoted (and overloaded with visits) to providing university term papers for students who wish to buy them instead of writing them.

Then there are the degree mills....

We had 3 professors at U of Toronto who got caught passing off some of their students work as their own...they got a slap on the wrist from the faculty and are still tenure-track professors today.

During my grad studies there were (at least) 4 students who submitted Masters dissertation they had hired someone to write for them. One of them has moved on to earn a PhD using a smiliar method and a teaching chair...

How did we find out? At a faculty-student meeting we were told of this and to keep it quiet.

So, come on now..get off the high horse...cheating is becoming an epidemic here and home.