What should I do with a master student's online report that made my work look like his?

Question

I have a published a conference paper (in 2014) that has been used recently by a master student (whom I do not know) to write a paper for a master's class discussing a paper. In his work he cites my work and the title he put on researchgate.net is: Analysis Report on [my work].

Issues:

• In the work itself the title does not contain Analysis report on.
• He copied images of my work without referring to the original source.
• The report is written (although it might not be on purpose) as if he did the work.

Since this work is for a master project I do not mind these issues that much, however it is published on ResearchGate and not clear that it is a report explaining a conference paper.

Should I ignore it our should I contact the student asking to remove the work?

Answer 1

While ignoring might be an option as the impact of this student's report is not so high, not doing anything will educate students that it is okay to plagiarize or follow incorrect citing procedures. As such, which is also as a recommendation by ResearchGate, it is best to contact the author of this report and inform him of the issues.

ResearchGate does not have the policy to intervene, but if such situation occurs with actual published articles, one can contact the editor of the journal to file a plagiarism complaint, after which further action by the editors will be undertaken.

Answer 2

Ignore it. There are lots of bad papers out there that will never be noticed and/or cited -- and given the title, everyone who happens to come across it will realize that the original source is your paper.

Spare your worries for the important questions in life, for example on writing the follow-up paper that clearly explains why the original paper you wrote is so important!