there’s always another plagiarist

Yet another plagiarism scandal has hit the news — this time over young adult fiction. In the tradition of should i thank these people?, I would like to express my professional appreciation to Kaavya Viswanathan for serving as a real-world example for my high school students:

Rediff.com: Kaavya Viswanathan takes a break from Harvard

Harvard University does not know how to deal with its student Kaavya Viswanathan just yet.

Viswanathan, who was born in Chennai and raised in Scotland before her parents migrated to America, is the most scrutinised author and student in the US following her admission that she had 'internalized' some passages for her novel from two-bestselling novels she read when she was in high school.

The teenager has taken a few days off from Harvard after making a brief appearance on the NBC television channel's popular Today show, telling its hosts: 'When I was writing, I genuinely believed each word was my own.'

Her novel How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life has been accused of lifting passages and scenes from Megan McCafferty's first two books, Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings.

The 19-year-old writer was confident that she would not be punished by Harvard, telling the Today show: 'I don't see why they would (take action). It's a genuine, genuine mistake.'

But at Harvard there is confusion about the case, amidst speculation that Viswanathan will not return to the elite university.

…

There is speculation that Little, Brown may not publish her second Opal Mehta novel. She was paid $500,000 advance for two Opal Mehta books

Crown, a division of the publishing giant Random House, that publishes Megan McCafferty's novels, has slammed Viswanathan's apology.

'Based on the scope and character of the similarities, it is inconceivable that this was a display of youthful innocence or an unconscious or unintentional act,' a statement from Random House said.

The Boston Globe newspaper reported that Steve Ross, senior vice-president and publisher, Crown while not saying if Random House has asked Little Brown to pull out Viswanathan's novel, told the newspaper: 'Our lawyers are reviewing all options.'

Note how sharply this article contrasts with others from this time last year, when Kaavya Viswanathan first won her $500,000 publishing contract:

The New York Sun: Publisher bets big on Harvard freshman

Kaavya Viswanathan is set on becoming an investment banker when she graduates from Harvard University in 2008, but a phone call that the 17-year-old freshman received from a literary agent might just cause a change in her plans.

The agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh of the William Morris Agency, told the Franklin Hills, N.J.-born Ms. Viswanathan that Little Brown & Company, one of the oldest and most prestigious American publishers – now part of the Time Warner Group – agreed to a two-book deal with the teenager. The sum approached $500,000, a staggering amount for an unpublished writer, let alone someone who'd barely left home for college.

"I still cannot believe this. I never expected this would happen," Ms. Viswanathan told The New York Sun yesterday. "I had only vaguely thought of becoming a writer. But a book contract? From a major publisher? This is so incredibly unbelievable. It's so hard to believe that I'm going to be able to walk into a bookstore and see something that I wrote on display there."

Both her books will be fiction. Ms. Viswanathan said she expects to deliver the first volume, tentatively titled "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got In," by the end of next month. The novel is expected to be published next spring.

Incidentally, you may have noticed that the number of plagiarism scandals originating at Harvard is highly, highly disproportionate. What's going on there?