(In the photo above, Tim Clinton is above Donald Trump’s head, to the right of V.P. Pence, Image: Johnnie Moore’s Twitter feed, )
This morning to Inside Higher Ed, American Association of Christian Counselors owner and Trump advisor Tim Clinton blamed former employers, grad students, research assistants, and third-party partners for the missing citations in his online publications.
Significantly, Clinton also told Inside Higher Ed through spokesman Jimmy Queen that some of his published works “have involved more of his direct involvement than others since he has often been assisted by graduate students or research associates.” To me, that sounds like he acknowledged that he didn’t write everything with his byline. If that is true, then why didn’t the grad students and research assistants get co-authorship as the AACC Code of Ethics requires?
Consider Jimmy Queen’s defense in light of the AACC Code of Ethics:
1-880: Writing and Publication Ethics in Christian Counseling
Christian counselors maintain honesty and integrity in all writing and publication ventures, giving full credit to whom credit is due. Christian counselors recognize the work of
others on all projects, avoid plagiarism of another’s work, share credit by joint authorship or acknowledgement with others who have directly and substantially contributed to the work
published, and honor all copyright and other laws applicable to the work.
Deja Vu All Over Again?*
This defense reminds me of how people close to Mars Hill Church described Mark Driscoll’s “content management system.” His stated intent was not to plagiarize but rather to pump out as much content as possible. For some of the online work, Driscoll functioned as a manager of content or as a kind of editor. He put his name on things others wrote which he approved but didn’t always double check (e.g., his book on I Peter).
To read all articles on this topic, click here.
Like this article and want to see more like it? Support this blog at Patreon.com.
[email-subscribers namefield=”NO” desc=”Subscribe to receive notification of new posts.” group=”Public”]
*Attributed to Yogi Berra – I thought I’d better footnote that.
There is not too many Grad students that don’t know the rules of citations. You maybe get by with that for one or maybe two statements, but really? To me his comments weakens him further. Passing the buck, unless obviously qualified, never works.
It seems that Tim Clinton should borrow a page from Harry Truman and add a sign to his desk: THE BUCK STOPS HERE.
By the side of the sign that says : ETHICS START HERE ?
And all Liberty U could say is that he’s no longer employed there. Hardly a defense of Clinton and certainly not a ringing endorsement. I’m betting Clinton will be feeling the need to start “spending more time with his family” soon.
“If that is true, then why didn’t the grad students and research
assistants get co-authorship as the AACC Code of Ethics requires?”
Another question is if it was just an error by these people, why weren’t the articles simply corrected with the appropriate citations rather than being scrubbed?
Not much original to the articles might be left?
It looks to me like the head of this organization is acting like a covert narcissist. This would be funny on a Dilbert TM cartoon. But if the head of the counseling “Christian” org. has NPD, then the fox is really watching the hen-house here. The old phrase, “Physician heal thyself!” is what comes to mind. This guy is not acting Christian, so I do not believe that he really is one…
O/T but this ties in as “More Fun at Willow Creek Church.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-willow-creek-paid-3-million-to-settle-lawsuits-over-sexual-abuse-20180810-story.html
Ah yes, another shining example of Willow Creek Church’s brand of “Global Leadership.” /s
So glad Dr. Throckmorton has created space for such critically important examination, no matter how upsetting it is to Patheos Evangerlical, the NRA, and their National Prayer Breakfast with Russian spies.
…the NRA, and their National Prayer Breakfast with Russian spies.
That made me laugh out loud, Otrotierra. Thanks!
this same thing goes on in the secular publication world as well, but one would think christians would hold themselves to be beyond reproach. Sad.
And then to make matters worse, instead of saying “I am sorry, I will do my best to correct my errors and to not allow it to happen again”, he tries to deflect any blame on others. Double Sad.