WASHINGTON — The nation's largest group of professional historians has scrapped the way it handles plagiarism allegations, doing away with secret proceedings in an effort to spotlight problems when they arise.
The American Historical Association decided to end its 15-year practice of adjudication, where complaints were heard, discussed and decided behind closed doors. The focus now will be to educate historians, students and the public.
The change comes after high-profile plagiarism cases involving historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and the late Stephen Ambrose, as well as former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair.
On Saturday, The New York Times reported that a new book about the birth of the atomic bomb has more than 30 passages that are identical or almost identical to work in four books by other historians.
U.S. Naval Academy historian Brian VanDeMark, 42, author of "Pandora's Keepers: Nine Men and the Atomic Bomb," told the Times that detached readers would consider most of the suspect passages as "reasonable paraphrases." Other passages will have to be "reworded or credited in a footnote," he said.
The policy shift on plagiarism investigations had been under consideration since early last year, association officials said. It was put to a vote this month.
The process of hearing and judging plagiarism and misconduct allegations was very cumbersome, said Arnita Jones, the association's executive director. It required "significant resources that we don't have," she said.
A panel of six association members who judged the cases would spend months hearing a complaint and then responses and rebuttals from the accuser and the accused before discussing the allegations, which would take several more months. There was no outside investigation because the association lacked the staff and funding.
William Cronon, vice president of the organization's professional division, said the need for due process also meant the proceedings were kept from the public. Eventually, he said, the group concluded the adjudicating wasn't having much of an impact.
After the findings were rendered, the complainant and the accused were informed of the decision and could then discuss the case publicly, although they mostly did not. There was no punishment or sanctions.
The association is turning its attention now to raising awareness of plagiarism and misconduct, revising guidelines on handling plagiarism and sponsoring forums on the problem, Cronon said.
"I feel pretty comfortable that those are good roles where we can make a difference," he said.
The group plans to publish advisory documents on plagiarism and misconduct to help better educate historians and the public. It will also develop teaching materials to train students about the dangers of plagiarism.
Columbia University history professor Eric Foner, a former president of the association, said the organization shouldn't be expected to mete out punishment.
"Publicity is the best way to handle" plagiarism, he said.
The Goodwin and Ambrose cases never came before the association.
Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, acknowledged last year that parts of her book, "The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys," were taken from another author without proper attribution. She said the copying was accidental.
Ambrose admitted that some sentences in his best seller "The Wild Blue" were taken from another book about World War II bomber pilots.
In another case that made national headlines, Emory University professor Michael Bellesiles resigned after questions about his research for the gun book "Arming America." Columbia University rescinded its prestigious Bancroft Prize for the book.
Most recently, The New York Times was rocked by a scandal involving Blair, who resigned after the newspaper found fraud, plagiarism and inaccuracies in dozens of his articles.