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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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4

Wired Editor Plagiarizes Wikipedia in New Book

Ironically, Anderson's tome is on free content

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(Newser) – The Virginia Quarterly Review has found almost a dozen plagiarized passages in Chris Anderson’s upcoming book Free, a book that, ironically, is all about free content. Most of the passages were cribbed verbatim from Wikipedia, while another was from a professor’s personal website, and yet another from another book. In some cases, mistakes from Wikipedia’s entry are reproduced in the book by the editor of Wired.

Asked about the passages, Anderson wrote, “All of those are my screwups after we decided not to run notes as planned.” He says he hadn’t found a good way to cite web sources, and tried to do writethroughs on sections from Wikipedia but missed a few. He, and the publisher, vow to publish the notes online. Wikipedia’s license requires extensive credits for any copied material.

The cover of Chris Anderson's
The cover of Chris Anderson's "Free."
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4 comments
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DavoMax
Jun 24, 09 10:55 AM CDT
Weird Reply
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hamsammichs
Jun 24, 09 11:26 AM CDT
TEAM WIKIPEDIA Reply
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Reader64481089
Jun 24, 09 11:40 AM CDT
ROFL "In some cases, mistakes from Wikipedia’s entry are reproduced in the book by the editor of Wired. " I love it, I honestly do. Reply
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EmilyWSussman
Jun 24, 09 12:02 PM CDT
I would laugh, but Mr. Anderson was kind enough to grant me an interview for an academic project last semester. So I won't. Plus, Wired is good stuff. Reply
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