At every respected institution, plagiarism is unacceptable and intolerable. The Iowa State Daily is no exception. As of Friday, Editorial Board member McKenzie McCray was fired for plagiarism. 

McCray joined the Editorial Board just before the summer of 2020, working on editorials nearly every week. After Editorial Board Editor Ashley Tibbs noticed some similarities in McCray’s writing, Tibbs ran an editorial that was about to be published through a plagiarism checker: 71 percent. After reviewing further editorials, throughout McCray’s time at the Daily, 13 editorials were found to be plagiarized. 

McCray was offered to speak on her behalf, but provided no comment. 

To avoid further plagiarism, random plagiarism checks will be conducted on editorials for every writer. Additionally, the writers for each editorial will be indicated in the bylines. 

At the Iowa State Daily, we value our credibility and our community’s trust. We train all of our staff members about plagiarism during our law and ethics sessions. Plagiarism is unacceptable, and we are hoping this will ensure our communities understand this was a single person’s efforts, who is no longer at the Daily, and this is not a reflection of the institution.