Probing Question (Q1) The author of this response would ask a question to the plagiarism discussion by asking if the respondent in the question really thinks taking sentences with no citation is the same thing as taking them WITHOUT citation. The response seems to call both plagiarism and they really shouldn't bear the same name because they are not the same offense. It is true that quoting without quotes, intentionally or not, is bad but if the citation is there and it's proper, there was clearly no intent to "steal" the material even if the methodology was sloppy and/or ignorant. It is akin to treating dovetailing (the actual author of a report submitting the paper twice) the same as plagiarism. They are both wrong but they are not the same thing.

Share an Insight (Scenario II)

The words about the fabrication of data in the second scenario seem to dance over one major reason why actions like that are undertaken. In many instances, fabrications like the ones described in the scenario are...

Even worse, data is often used to support political ideas under the premise the science is "settled" and that "consensus" has been reached in the relevant community. However, this belies the fact that no such "settling" or "consensus" has even occurred in the grand scheme of things and acting without truly informed consent or urging that others do the same is not ethical.
Offer & Support an Opinion (Scenario II)

Any person who plagiarizes, with or without intent, has committed some level of research misconduct and perhaps the APA is being a bit too lenient in that regard. This would especially be true at the doctoral level because anyone that has been through an undergraduate and master's program should know the rules regarding the misuse of other people's material and there should either be assumed guilt or at least the concept that regardless or intent being or not being present, any person that would to that (especially beyond the undergrad level) has no place being any sort of researcher because they clearly either cannot do it right or do…