Internal affairs: the fate of authors from the University of the Philippines accused of plagiarism, 1990s to 2010s

Purpose: This study centers on 25 cases of plagiarism in scientific publications committed by faculty members and students of the University of the Philippines and dealt with by eight of the university’s academic publishers. Methods: We focus on the publishers’ responses to these cases, details of which we obtained from various sources, vis-à-vis the University of the Philippines’ policies on plagiarism. Results: The responses to plagiarism were found to vary, at times seemingly arbitrarily, but tended toward protecting the identities or details of the accused, unless the case became publicized. Conclusion: Such maintenance of confidentiality is inimical to the fulfillment of academic publishers’ duties to the rest of the academic community. We herein suggest policies to address the identified deficits.