2012 Plagiarism Scandal
On September 1, 2012, the paper's editorial board printed an apology to its readers after discovering that Raquel Velasco, who was writing on issues related to Tempe (home of the ASU Tempe Campus), plagiarized and/or used facts and quotes without proper attribution, from the Phoenix Business Journal, Arizona Republic, and KNXV-TV (locally known as ABC15), among other news organizations.
In addition, the paper's editorial board discovered that Velasco may have also concocted facts on at least one story.
The State Press Editorial Board said Velasco's stories were retracted, and Velasco's relationship to The State Press was terminated. Investigation to Velasco's previous articles are still under investigation. In its apology, the editorial board mentioned the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication's efforts to teach students the virtues of ethics and aversion of plagiarism. The school itself also has a written policy that students involved in academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and fabrication, will, if found to have engaged in such behavior, will receive a grade of XE (failure through academic dishonesty), and expelled from the School, without the possibility of reinstatement.
Searches on The State Press's website reveal that Velasco contributed 7 articles to the paper, of which 4 have been retracted by the paper itself.
Read more about this topic: State Press
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