Authorial Ethics: How Writers Abuse Their Calling

Hauptman (ret., St. Cloud State Univ.) considers what makes authors spurn ‘convention, mores, rule and law’ in their pursuit of publication. Rather than delivering just a compilation of cases, Hauptman provides a broader study of the ethical issues writers face. His argument goes beyond the predictable discussion on plagiarism to confront such ethical issues as factual errors, unclear representation of purpose, and ghostwriting for clinical pharmaceutical studies. Hauptman’s background as a librarian–applied in his earlier works Ethical Challenges in Librarianship (1988), Ethics and Librarianship (2002), and Documentation: A History and Critique of Attribution, Commentary, Glosses, Marginalia, Notes, Bibliographies, Works-Cited Lists, and Citation Indexing and Analysis (2008)–prepares him for objective consideration of authorial controversies in all disciplines. He divides his discussion of these matters into four sections: ‘The Humanities’ (by far the longest of the four), ‘The Social Sciences, ‘ ‘The Sciences, ‘ and ‘Other Areas’ (the last covers business, economics, and law). This book’s broad perspective makes it relevant to writers in all fields. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

Introduced with a foreword by eminent classicist Mary Lefkowitz, Authorial Ethics is a normative study that considers the many ways in which writers abuse their commitment to truth and integrity. In case studies divided by academic discipline, it trains a particular focus on literature, journalism and art. Robert Hauptman argues that two major abrogations by authors are inadvertent error and purposeful misconduct.

With abundant lessons drawn from a rogues’ gallery of those who lied, cheated, and stole their way into undeserved credit or publication, Robert Hauptman’s thoughtful and wide-ranging Authorial Ethics should be required reading for every writer in every field.