Q: A book chapter that I wrote has been plagiarized. What can I do about it?
I wrote a chapter for an edited book (an international publication) several years ago about an organization I then ran. I have since retired. That edited volume is coming out as a second edition and the chapter I wrote has been re-authored by two colleagues still active with the organization, with substantial overlap with what I wrote years ago. More than overlap, there are multiple instances where my writing was incorporated word-for-word (plagiarized) directly into their redraft. I am not listed as a co-author of the current redraft, nor is my earlier chapter even acknowledged by these new authors. What recourse do I have?
There are ethical problems here.(conflict of interest, plagiarism, etc.). About recourse I'm not a specialist in the matter, but I think you should first address a correspondance to the Book Editor related the issue.
Best regards.
From your question, this seems like a clear case of plagiarism. I assume you must be having a copy of the first edition of the book where you are mentioned as the author of the specific chapter. You can write to the authors of the book asking that your work be cited or at least acknowledged. If they disagree or don't respond, you can write to the editor/publisher of the second edition with a copy of the original book chapter and explain that your work is being plagiarized. Hopefully, the editor will take some action to ensure that you receive credit for your work.
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