About two weeks ago, I was pulling yet another late night editing questions for the Moon Pie Classic. (Or, if you prefer to believe what others have asserted elsewhere, I was staying up past 3 AM for the fourth night in a row, merely rearranging questions for the Suck the Southern Circuit Dry Classic.) While trying to salvage a packet from an inexperienced team, as my cursor crossed a particular name within a tossup, I noted that it turned into the dreaded follow-the- Internet-link finger. I checked, and it led to a Wikipedia article from which most of that question was copied verbatim. Snooping around further, I discovered a way to count the number of links within a packet. I found three packets with over 40 such links each. Checking further, I found that some of the questions were rewritten and some were mostly just cut-and-paste jobs. A couple of other packets had a handful of links, mostly for hard-to- spell names, that led to Wikipedia or other sources, but those questions were clearly rewritten and reflected research rather than theft. I'm addressing the packet issue privately with the authors in question, but I thought I should raise the issue. Beginning next fall we will make sure to include an admonition in the packet specs and some financial penalty for violating the guidelines. I'd suggest others do the same.
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