ACADEMIC plagiarism is rising and set to increase further in the next few years, says the lecturer at the centre of the longest-running such case in the territory.
Dr Linda Koo Chih-ling says local academics are under mounting pressure to produce more research and the solution for many is to claim credit for the work of their juniors.
So nine years after the community medicine lecturer at the University of Hong Kong accused her boss of copying a questionnaire that she and a colleague drew up - a case that is still unresolved, despite two court judgments in her favour - Dr Koo is convinced there is more plagiarism than ever.
The recently reported case of Professor Joseph Cheng Yu-shek, dean of City University's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, copying material for use in a secondary school textbook is just one example.
Dr Koo said Dr Cheng's case was less serious since he had apologised and was copying the work of his former teacher, Dr Norman Miners, rather than that of his own junior staff. But she believes there are many much worse cases which are never made public.
'It's getting worse,' she said. 'In the past everyone was just left to do their own thing and there was very little accountability.
'But now there's much more pressure from the top.