DCP's ongoing problem with plagiarism

[Tom]

He has made various comments:

viewtopic.php?p=2591742#p2591742 (Lemmie quotes from a SeN explanation of his that he later deleted).

Mea Culpa (in which he paints himself as a victim; likens himself to Stephen Ambrose, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Alex Haley, and Paul Johnson; and makes the risible claim that people who have documented his plagiarism are “armed with online programs that will enable them to detect verbal resemblances and influences of which I, their target, may be quite unaware”).

From the Workshop (in which he describes his working methods and mischaracterizes what his “critics” have documented on this thread and elsewhere).

An Apology Regarding My Interpreter Article Today

More than eight years ago now, he made the following statement (see the second link above):

“I can say this: I have never intentionally plagiarized anybody or anything. I’m more than happy to credit others for thoughts and for references and am, I think, quite generous in that regard.”

!أنا لا أختلق هذا الكلام

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Regarding his “workshop,” well, if his “manuscripts” weren’t Google and Wikipedia one could hardly tell them apart. Funny how his “manuscripts” apparently lack citations and footnotes because it’d be a simple thing to copy and paste into a new article, no?

[Tom]

In March of 1980, an article by Richard L. Jensen and Gordon Irving, titled “The Voyage of the Amazon: A Close View of One Immigrant Company,” was published in the LDS magazine, Ensign.

Peterson has twice plagiarized this article, once as part of a blog entry dated September 16, 2017, titled Charles Dickens on the Mormons, and then again on June 13, 2019, in a blog entry, titled Charles Dickens, on “the pick and flower of England.”

Neither time did he attribute any of the work to Jensen and Irving.

Jensen and Irving begin:

In June of 1863 the Amazon, a passenger ship with 891 Latter-day Saints aboard, set sail from London. Just before the voyage, many Londoners—government officials and clergymen included--came for a firsthand look at the Mormons and their traveling arrangements. Among the visitors was author Charles Dickens,

and Peterson:

In June 1863, the passenger ship Amazon set sail from London for America with nearly 900 Latter-day Saint emigrants aboard.  However, just before she weighed anchor, many Londoners—including both government officials and clergymen—came to take a look at the Mormons, up close and at first hand, as well as at their traveling arrangements  One of these visitors Charles Dickens,

Okay, so far pretty factual, but use and arrangement of the language is cutting it a little close.

To continue with Jensens' and Irving's sentence:

Among the visitors was author Charles Dickens, who spent several hours on board the ship questioning British Mission President George Q. Cannon and quietly observing the Saints.

Peterson breaks up his copying by listing, unnecessarily, FOURTEEN of Dicken's works, with dates, as well as noting he is regarded as a great novelist. It doesn't obviate the plagiarism, however, which continues by adding phrase rearrangements:

Dickens spent several hours on board the Amazon, quietly observing the Saints on the ship and interviewing George Q. Cannon, a member of the Twelve who was serving at the time as the president of the British Mission.

The original authors continue:

A month later Dickens published an account of his visit to the Mormon emigrant ship. He pointed out that these were primarily working-class people, including craftsmen in many trades. Though he remained skeptical about what the Mormons would find when they reached Utah, Dickens was impressed by their thoroughgoing organization, their calmness, and their quiet self-respect:

And after several sentences on Cannon, from Peterson,

A month or so after his visit to the Amazon, Dickens published an account of it in an essay for the periodical All the Year Round (4 July 1863), titled “The Uncommercial Traveller.”  In his essay, he remarked that virtually all of the emigrating Latter-day Saints were tradesmen and craftsmen and their families, people of the working class.  He was worried about what these British converts to Mormonism might encounter when they actually arrived in Utah.  (He was surely familiar with the horror stories going around England at the time – which would continue for the next several generations — about the theocratic “Mormon kingdom” in the remote North American west.)  But he was deeply impressed by what he had actually seen.  The emigration was thoroughly well-organized, calm, orderly.

The original authors quote Dickens, starting with:

“I went on board their ship,” he said, “to bear testimony...

And Peterson follows suit, synonymously:

“I went on board their ship,” he wrote, “to bear testimony...

J & I finished up their quote of Dickens, and ended with this thought:

...have often missed.” Of the people themselves Dickens wrote that had he not known they were Mormons, he would have described them as, “in their degree, the pick and flower of England.”1

Peterson also ended his quote of Dickens in the same place, and also finished with Jensen's and Irving's thought:

have often missed.” Of the Saints themselves, Dickens confessed that, had he not known they were Mormons, he would have described them as, “in their degree, the pick and flower of England.”

Why not just give Jensen and Irving due credit for their intellectual ideas? A few synonyms, phrase rearrangements, and the insertion of some filler to spread out the plagiarism is STILL plagiarism.

Jensen and Irving's citation, missing from Peterson's use of their work:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... y?lang=eng

Peterson's plagiarisms:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... gland.html

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... rmons.html

Yesterday, the Afore posted the same blog entry once again. He wrote:

So I share again something that I first posted here back in 2019 [sic]:

In June 1863, the passenger ship Amazon set sail from London for America with nearly 900 Latter-day Saint emigrants aboard. However, just before she weighed anchor, many Londoners—including both government officials and clergymen—came to take a look at the Mormons, up close and at first hand, as well as at their traveling arrangements. One of these visitors [sic] Charles Dickens, the famous author of such works, by that time, as The Pickwick Papers (1837), Oliver Twist (1839), Nicholas Nickleby (1839), The Old Curiosity Shop(1841), Barnaby Rudge (1841), A Christmas Carol (1849) [sic], Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), Dombey and Son (1848), David Copperfield (1850), Bleak House (1853), Hard Times (1854), Little Dorrit (1857), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1861). He is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of Victorian England.

Dickens spent several hours on board the Amazon, quietly observing the Saints on the ship and interviewing George Q. Cannon, a member of the Twelve who was serving at the time as the president of the British Mission. (Elder Cannon would go on to serve as a counselor in the First Presidency to Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow.)

A month or so after his visit to the Amazon, Dickens published an account of it in an essay for the periodical All the Year Round (4 July 1863), titled “The Uncommercial Traveller.” In his essay, he remarked that virtually all of the emigrating Latter-day Saints were tradesmen and craftsmen and their families, people of the working class. He was worried about what these British converts to Mormonism might encounter when they actually arrived in Utah. (He was surely familiar with the horror stories going around England at the time – which would continue for the next several generations — about the theocratic “Mormon kingdom” in the remote North American west.) But he was deeply impressed by what he had actually seen. The emigration was thoroughly well-organized, calm, orderly.

“I went on board their ship,” he wrote, “to bear testimony against them if they deserved it, as I fully believed they would; to my great astonishment they did not deserve it; and my predispositions and tendencies must not affect me as an honest witness. I went over the Amazon’s side feeling it impossible to deny that, so far, some remarkable influence had produced a remarkable result, which better known influences have often missed.” Of the Saints themselves, Dickens confessed that, had he not known they were Mormons, he would have described them as, “in their degree, the pick and flower of England.”

Yesterday’s post marks at least the fourth time (2017, 2019, 2025, and 2026) that the Afore has plagiarized Richard Jensen and Gordon Irving’s Ensign article.

I am unreliably informed that Jeffrey Holland, while in his final days, called his son to his side and said, “Go down to Provo, find Dan Peterson, and tell that loose cannon to stop plagiarizing!”

Posted from Zion National Parking Lot, Utah

[Tom]

The Afore has edited his entry to add this note:

The story has been told a number of times in many places. The proximate source for my entry above was an article in the March 1980 issue of the Ensign by Richard L. Jensen and Gordon Irving, entitled “The Voyage of the Amazon: A Close View of One Immigrant Company.”

“The proximate source”? Translation minus the obfuscation: “The source I plagiarized.” Yes, the “story has been told a number of times in many places.” But the Afore has copied language from Richard L. Jensen and Gordon I. Irving’s article (see Lemmie’s quoted post above) on at least three prior occasions without any acknowledgment in telling the story. He has provided no explanation for stealing their work.

Posted from Zion National Parking Lot, Utah

[drumdude]

I’m planning to re-upload Witnesses, Six Days in August, and Becoming Brigham to my YouTube channel. In glorious black and white, so they’re “proximate sourced.”

Dan shouldn’t be the only one profiting off others’ work.

[malkie]

I’m planning to re-upload Witnesses, Six Days in August, and Becoming Brigham to my YouTube channel. In glorious black and white, so they’re “proximate sourced.”

Dan shouldn’t be the only one profiting off others’ work.

drumdude, when you're rich and famous as a result, willl you still remember us "little people"? or will you let the fortune & fame go to your head?

[I Have Questions]

Peterson’s Bishop “Do you strive to be honest in all that you do?”
Peterson “Define ‘strive’…”

It is interesting that the Church softened this question - it used to be “Are you honest in your dealings with your fellow man?” Now you don’t need to be honest in your dealings with your fellow man. You just have to “strive” to be, which allows for you being dishonest. It’s the same for the word of wisdom question. It used to be “Do you keep the word of wisdom?” Now it’s “Do you strive to keep the word of wisdom?” Which allows for you not keeping it.

Both amendments are seemingly well used loopholes for Peterson.

[drumdude]

I think that personal morality and character do matter.

Uttered only yesterday, as he consistently and without shame continues to plagiarize and profit off it.

[Tom]

I think that personal morality and character do matter.

Uttered only yesterday, as he consistently and without shame continues to plagiarize and profit off it.

I have no idea how much Patheos bloggers make (is it based on page views?), but it seems that he should be paying Mike Dash and others for use of their work.

[drumdude]

Uttered only yesterday, as he consistently and without shame continues to plagiarize and profit off it.

I have no idea how much Patheos bloggers make (is it based on page views?), but it seems that he should be paying Mike Dash and others for use of their work.

He’s not making much money off it. Which in my view makes it even worse. Trading his dignity and integrity for a paltry couple dollars a month.