Boston Scientific Corporation Utilizes Scott M. Graffius' Intellectual Property
19 August 2024
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' Intellectual Property
Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Scott M. Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his ‘Phases of Team Development’ as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — inclusive of a graph showing how performance varies by phase, as well as the characteristics and strategies for each phase.
Graffius' intellectual property (IP) is registered with the United States Copyright Office.
Graffius initially developed his ‘Phases of Team Development’ unique material in 2008, and he periodically refreshes it.
Graffius' property applicable to this story is here.
For reference only, the visual for the current (2024) edition is below and the details are here.
Organizations around the world engage Graffius to deliver compelling talks and workshops. To date, he's presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries, including:
Graffius ‘Phases of Team Development’ IP is central and key to many of those sessions. His rate card and a listing of his engagements are at https://scottgraffius.com/resources/Exceptional-PPM-and-PMO-Solutions-Rate-Card-for-2024-2025-v24071607.pdf and https://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html, respectively.
With an authorization/license from Graffius, his ‘Phases of Team Development’ IP is featured and used by businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities around the world. Examples include:
Copyrights protect the IP rights of creators, ensuring they receive recognition and compensation for their work, thus incentivizing creativity and innovation. Graffius is vigilant in upholding, protecting and enforcing his copyrights and other IP rights.
Boston Scientific — a global BioMed and BioTech corporation — used Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ IP without permission or attribution.
Notes:
Boston Scientific Utilizes Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' IP Without Permission or Attribution
Boston Scientific is a biomedical/biotechnology engineering firm and multinational manufacturer of medical devices. Their website at https://www.bostonscientific.com/en-US/about-us.html informs that the company operates globally, employs 48,000 people, has invested $1.4 billion in research and development, and has $14.2 billion in net sales. A photo of their corporate headquarters is shown below.
Boston Scientific did not request nor receive permission to use Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' IP.
Unfortunately, Boston Scientific's "Presentation Templates" site, shown next, includes content which infringes on Graffius' copyright.
The top of Boston Scientific's website includes four elements: Home, PowerPoint Templates, Visual & Data Templates, and “?”. As delineated below, selecting the "?" starts an email to [name redacted]@bsci.com.
As shown next, BSCI.com is the property of the Boston Scientific Corporation. Visual 1 of 2 is below.
Visual 2 of 2 is below.
And entering BSCI.com into a browser automatically takes the user to Boston Scientific's main website.
Selecting the URL (shown in the visual below) at Boston's Scientific's "Presentation Templates" site downloads a PowerPoint. Slide 1 (also shown in the visual below) infringes on Graffius' copyright.
Boston Scientific's use of Graffius' copyrighted text content is covered shortly.
As shown below, summary information for Boston Scientific's respective PowerPoint lists the author of the file as [name redacted]@bsci.com. That's the same identifier listed earlier. And again, @BSCI.com is a Boston Scientific address.
Boston Scientific's material infringes on Graffius' copyright. The infringement uses a significant portion (the majority of) Graffius' IP. There are too many examples to list, but some follow.
๐ข Under Forming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Questioning”
๐ด Under Forming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Questioning”
๐ข Under Forming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Socializing”
๐ด Under Forming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Socializing”
๐ข Under Forming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Displaying eagerness”
๐ด Under Forming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Displaying eagerness”
๐ข Under Forming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Sticking to safe topics”
๐ด Under Forming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Sticking to safe topics”
๐ข Under Forming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Taking the ‘lead’”
๐ด Under Forming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Taking the ‘lead’”
๐ข Under Forming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Quick response times”
๐ด Under Forming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Quick response times”
๐ข Under Storming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Resistance”
๐ด Under Storming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Resistance”
๐ข Under Storming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Lack of participation”
๐ด Under Storming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Lack of participation”
๐ข Under Storming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Conflict”
๐ด Under Storming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Conflict”
๐ข Under Storming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Competition”
๐ด Under Storming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Competition”
๐ข Under Storming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “High emotions”
๐ด Under Storming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “High emotions”
๐ข Under Storming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Normalizing matters”
๐ด Under Storming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Normalizing matters”
๐ข Under Norming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Encouraging leadership”
๐ด Under Norming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Encouraging leadership”
๐ข Under Norming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Reconciliation”
๐ด Under Norming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Reconciliation”
๐ข Under Norming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Developing cohesion”
๐ด Under Norming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Developing cohesion”
๐ข Under Performing, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Healthy system”
๐ด Under Performing, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Healthy system”
๐ข Under Performing, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Celebrating”
๐ด Under Performing, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Celebrating”
๐ข Under Adjourning, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Shift to process orientation”
๐ด Under Adjourning, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Shift to process orientation”
๐ข Under Adjourning, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Sadness”
๐ด Under Adjourning, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Sadness”
๐ข Under Adjourning, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Recognizing change”
๐ด Under Adjourning, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Recognizing change”
Those are just some examples.
Corresponding visuals follow. Here's part 1 of 2.
And here's part 2 of 2.
Boston Scientific did not request nor receive permission to use Graffius' IP. Nevertheless, Boston Scientific used a significant portion (the majority) of Graffius' IP and Boston Scientific did not credit Graffius as the author and copyright owner.
Ethics, Integrity, and IP Rights Including Copyright
What are Boston Scientific's stated commitments to ethics, integrity, and copyright and other IP rights? Answers follow.
As reported at https://www.bostonscientific.com/en-US/corporate-responsibility/integrity.html, Boston Scientific’s priorities include: “We believe in strong corporate governance and business practices that reflect our priorities, values and commitment to ethics and integrity.” But Boston Scientific infringed on Graffius' copyright.
In a press release at https://news.bostonscientific.com/news-releases?item=58870, Jim Tobin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boston Scientific, is reported as saying: “Boston Scientific was built on the strength of its intellectual property.” But Boston Scientific utilized Graffius' IP — and without permission or attribution.
The company’s ‘Code of Conduct’ at https://www.bostonscientific.com/content/dam/bostonscientific/corporate/citizenship/compliance-ethics/Code%20of%20Conduct/2022/2022_CodeofConduct_English.pdf states that: “Boston Scientific protects its intellectual property rights to patents, trade names, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and other intellectual property. We also respect the intellectual property rights of others.” But Boston Scientific infringed on Graffius' IP rights.
Boston Scientific addresses copyright infringement at https://www.bostonscientific.com/en-US/medical-specialties/electrophysiology/CRM-YouTube-Disclaimer.html, among other places. There, it informs that: “It is strictly forbidden to make copies, whether partial or total and on whichever media without prior approval. Anyone failing to respect this provision will be guilty of copyright infringement and liable to criminal punishment according to the law.” As shown, Boston Scientific's content infringes on Graffius' copyright.
Status
Scott M. Graffius notified Boston Scientific Corporation of their infringement. Here's an excerpt from Graffius' respective email:
As of the time of this article, Boston Scientific Corporation has not responded to the notice nor discontinued their infringement of Graffius' IP.
Post-publication notes appear at the end of this article.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, ITIL, LSSGB is an Agile project management expert practitioner, consultant, creator, multi-award-winning author, and international public speaker.
He's generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he's served. Businesses and industries range from consumer products to advanced technology (including AI, R&D), e-commerce, music, streaming/OTT video, television, film, video games, financial services, government, and more.
Graffius and content from his books (Agile Scrum and Agile Transformation), talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities around the world. Examples include Adobe, American Management Association, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Bayer, Boston University, Broadcom, Cisco, Deimos Aerospace, DevOps Institute, EU's European Commission, Ford Motor Company, Hasso Plattner Institute Germany, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, London South Bank University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, New Zealand Government, Oracle, Project Management Institute, Torrens University Australia, UC San Diego, TBS Switzerland, UK Sports Institute, University of Galway Ireland, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Tennis Association, Virginia Tech, Warsaw University of Technology, Yale University, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, and many others.
He delights audiences around the world with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops. He's presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries. Visit here to learn more and here to ask Scott to speak at your event.
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change
Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, August 19). Boston Scientific Corporation Utilizes Scott M. Graffius' Intellectual Property. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/bsci.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.14032.32001.
Post-Publication Notes
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
A PDF of this article is here.
The short link for this article is https://bit.ly/bsci-x.
A link to the infringing PowerPoint file is here.
© Copyright 2024 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.
Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' Intellectual Property
Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Scott M. Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his ‘Phases of Team Development’ as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — inclusive of a graph showing how performance varies by phase, as well as the characteristics and strategies for each phase.
Graffius' intellectual property (IP) is registered with the United States Copyright Office.
Graffius initially developed his ‘Phases of Team Development’ unique material in 2008, and he periodically refreshes it.
Graffius' property applicable to this story is here.
For reference only, the visual for the current (2024) edition is below and the details are here.
Organizations around the world engage Graffius to deliver compelling talks and workshops. To date, he's presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries, including:
- Armenia,
- Australia,
- Brazil,
- Canada,
- Czech Republic,
- Finland,
- France,
- Germany,
- Greece,
- Hong Kong,
- Hungary,
- India,
- Ireland,
- Lithuania,
- Luxembourg,
- Nepal,
- Netherlands,
- New Zealand,
- Norway,
- Romania,
- Sweden,
- Switzerland,
- United Arab Emirates,
- United Kingdom,
- and the United States.
Graffius ‘Phases of Team Development’ IP is central and key to many of those sessions. His rate card and a listing of his engagements are at https://scottgraffius.com/resources/Exceptional-PPM-and-PMO-Solutions-Rate-Card-for-2024-2025-v24071607.pdf and https://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html, respectively.
With an authorization/license from Graffius, his ‘Phases of Team Development’ IP is featured and used by businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities around the world. Examples include:
- Adobe,
- American Management Association,
- Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
- Bayer,
- Boston University,
- Broadcom,
- Cisco,
- Deimos Aerospace,
- DevOps Institute,
- Ford Motor Company,
- Hasso Plattner Institute,
- IEEE,
- Johns Hopkins University,
- LeadingEng,
- London South Bank University,
- Manufacturers Alliance,
- Microsoft,
- New Zealand Government,
- Oracle,
- TBS Switzerland,
- Torrens University Australia,
- U.S. National Park Service,
- U.S. Tennis Association,
- UC San Diego,
- UK Sports Institute,
- University of Galway Ireland,
- Virginia Tech,
- Warsaw University,
- Yale University,
- and many others.
Copyrights protect the IP rights of creators, ensuring they receive recognition and compensation for their work, thus incentivizing creativity and innovation. Graffius is vigilant in upholding, protecting and enforcing his copyrights and other IP rights.
Boston Scientific — a global BioMed and BioTech corporation — used Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ IP without permission or attribution.
Notes:
- This article includes brief excerpts from Boston Scientific and other sources, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis. Graffius redacted sensitive information.
- Scott M. Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ IP is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.
- Boston Scientific name, mark and content are the property of Boston Scientific Corporation. Boston Scientific images (logo and corporate headquarters) provided courtesy of Boston Scientific. © 2024 Boston Scientific Corporation or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Boston Scientific Utilizes Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' IP Without Permission or Attribution
Boston Scientific is a biomedical/biotechnology engineering firm and multinational manufacturer of medical devices. Their website at https://www.bostonscientific.com/en-US/about-us.html informs that the company operates globally, employs 48,000 people, has invested $1.4 billion in research and development, and has $14.2 billion in net sales. A photo of their corporate headquarters is shown below.
Boston Scientific did not request nor receive permission to use Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' IP.
Unfortunately, Boston Scientific's "Presentation Templates" site, shown next, includes content which infringes on Graffius' copyright.
The top of Boston Scientific's website includes four elements: Home, PowerPoint Templates, Visual & Data Templates, and “?”. As delineated below, selecting the "?" starts an email to [name redacted]@bsci.com.
As shown next, BSCI.com is the property of the Boston Scientific Corporation. Visual 1 of 2 is below.
Visual 2 of 2 is below.
And entering BSCI.com into a browser automatically takes the user to Boston Scientific's main website.
Selecting the URL (shown in the visual below) at Boston's Scientific's "Presentation Templates" site downloads a PowerPoint. Slide 1 (also shown in the visual below) infringes on Graffius' copyright.
Boston Scientific's use of Graffius' copyrighted text content is covered shortly.
As shown below, summary information for Boston Scientific's respective PowerPoint lists the author of the file as [name redacted]@bsci.com. That's the same identifier listed earlier. And again, @BSCI.com is a Boston Scientific address.
Boston Scientific's material infringes on Graffius' copyright. The infringement uses a significant portion (the majority of) Graffius' IP. There are too many examples to list, but some follow.
๐ข Under Forming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Questioning”
๐ด Under Forming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Questioning”
๐ข Under Forming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Socializing”
๐ด Under Forming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Socializing”
๐ข Under Forming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Displaying eagerness”
๐ด Under Forming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Displaying eagerness”
๐ข Under Forming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Sticking to safe topics”
๐ด Under Forming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Sticking to safe topics”
๐ข Under Forming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Taking the ‘lead’”
๐ด Under Forming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Taking the ‘lead’”
๐ข Under Forming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Quick response times”
๐ด Under Forming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Quick response times”
๐ข Under Storming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Resistance”
๐ด Under Storming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Resistance”
๐ข Under Storming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Lack of participation”
๐ด Under Storming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Lack of participation”
๐ข Under Storming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Conflict”
๐ด Under Storming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Conflict”
๐ข Under Storming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Competition”
๐ด Under Storming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Competition”
๐ข Under Storming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “High emotions”
๐ด Under Storming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “High emotions”
๐ข Under Storming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Normalizing matters”
๐ด Under Storming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Normalizing matters”
๐ข Under Norming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Encouraging leadership”
๐ด Under Norming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Encouraging leadership”
๐ข Under Norming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Reconciliation”
๐ด Under Norming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Reconciliation”
๐ข Under Norming, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Developing cohesion”
๐ด Under Norming, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Developing cohesion”
๐ข Under Performing, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Healthy system”
๐ด Under Performing, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Healthy system”
๐ข Under Performing, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Celebrating”
๐ด Under Performing, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Celebrating”
๐ข Under Adjourning, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Shift to process orientation”
๐ด Under Adjourning, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Shift to process orientation”
๐ข Under Adjourning, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Sadness”
๐ด Under Adjourning, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Sadness”
๐ข Under Adjourning, Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property includes “Recognizing change”
๐ด Under Adjourning, Boston Scientific’s infringing material includes “Recognizing change”
Those are just some examples.
Corresponding visuals follow. Here's part 1 of 2.
And here's part 2 of 2.
Boston Scientific did not request nor receive permission to use Graffius' IP. Nevertheless, Boston Scientific used a significant portion (the majority) of Graffius' IP and Boston Scientific did not credit Graffius as the author and copyright owner.
Ethics, Integrity, and IP Rights Including Copyright
What are Boston Scientific's stated commitments to ethics, integrity, and copyright and other IP rights? Answers follow.
As reported at https://www.bostonscientific.com/en-US/corporate-responsibility/integrity.html, Boston Scientific’s priorities include: “We believe in strong corporate governance and business practices that reflect our priorities, values and commitment to ethics and integrity.” But Boston Scientific infringed on Graffius' copyright.
In a press release at https://news.bostonscientific.com/news-releases?item=58870, Jim Tobin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boston Scientific, is reported as saying: “Boston Scientific was built on the strength of its intellectual property.” But Boston Scientific utilized Graffius' IP — and without permission or attribution.
The company’s ‘Code of Conduct’ at https://www.bostonscientific.com/content/dam/bostonscientific/corporate/citizenship/compliance-ethics/Code%20of%20Conduct/2022/2022_CodeofConduct_English.pdf states that: “Boston Scientific protects its intellectual property rights to patents, trade names, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and other intellectual property. We also respect the intellectual property rights of others.” But Boston Scientific infringed on Graffius' IP rights.
Boston Scientific addresses copyright infringement at https://www.bostonscientific.com/en-US/medical-specialties/electrophysiology/CRM-YouTube-Disclaimer.html, among other places. There, it informs that: “It is strictly forbidden to make copies, whether partial or total and on whichever media without prior approval. Anyone failing to respect this provision will be guilty of copyright infringement and liable to criminal punishment according to the law.” As shown, Boston Scientific's content infringes on Graffius' copyright.
Status
Scott M. Graffius notified Boston Scientific Corporation of their infringement. Here's an excerpt from Graffius' respective email:
"I did not receive a request to use my ‘Phases of Team Development’ IP nor did I provide an authorization/license for use. A significant portion (the majority) of my IP was used. The use did not credit me as the author and copyright owner. The use has damaged the marketability and value of my IP. For those reasons, among others, your use is not ‘fair use’ nor ‘fair dealing.’ Your use infringes on my copyright."
"Immediately remove your infringing material from your website at the aforementioned link and anywhere else it is located or used, in any form — digital or hard copy."
"I reserve all rights in this serious matter."
As of the time of this article, Boston Scientific Corporation has not responded to the notice nor discontinued their infringement of Graffius' IP.
Post-publication notes appear at the end of this article.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, ITIL, LSSGB is an Agile project management expert practitioner, consultant, creator, multi-award-winning author, and international public speaker.
He's generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he's served. Businesses and industries range from consumer products to advanced technology (including AI, R&D), e-commerce, music, streaming/OTT video, television, film, video games, financial services, government, and more.
Graffius and content from his books (Agile Scrum and Agile Transformation), talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities around the world. Examples include Adobe, American Management Association, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Bayer, Boston University, Broadcom, Cisco, Deimos Aerospace, DevOps Institute, EU's European Commission, Ford Motor Company, Hasso Plattner Institute Germany, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, London South Bank University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, New Zealand Government, Oracle, Project Management Institute, Torrens University Australia, UC San Diego, TBS Switzerland, UK Sports Institute, University of Galway Ireland, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Tennis Association, Virginia Tech, Warsaw University of Technology, Yale University, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, and many others.
He delights audiences around the world with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops. He's presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries. Visit here to learn more and here to ask Scott to speak at your event.
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile frameworkโScrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- ๐ง๐ท Brazil
- ๐จ๐ฆ Canada
- ๐จ๐ฟ Czech Republic
- ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark
- ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland
- ๐ซ๐ท France
- ๐ฉ๐ช Germany
- ๐ฌ๐ท Greece
- ๐ญ๐บ Hungary
- ๐ฎ๐ณ India
- ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland
- ๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel
- ๐ฎ๐น Italy
- ๐ฏ๐ต Japan
- ๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg
- ๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico
- ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands
- ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand
- ๐ณ๐ด Norway
- ๐ช๐ธ Spain
- ๐ธ๐ช Sweden
- ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland
- ๐ฆ๐ช UAE
- ๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- ๐บ๐ธ United States
- ๐ More countries
About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change
Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- ๐ฆ๐บ Australia
- ๐ฆ๐น Austria
- ๐ง๐ท Brazil
- ๐จ๐ฆ Canada
- ๐จ๐ฟ Czech Republic
- ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark
- ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland
- ๐ซ๐ท France
- ๐ฉ๐ช Germany
- ๐ฌ๐ท Greece
- ๐ฎ๐ณ India
- ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland
- ๐ฏ๐ต Japan
- ๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg
- ๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico
- ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands
- ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand
- ๐ช๐ธ Spain
- ๐ธ๐ช Sweden
- ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland
- ๐ฆ๐ช United Arab Emirates
- ๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- ๐บ๐ธ United States
- ๐ More countries
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, August 19). Boston Scientific Corporation Utilizes Scott M. Graffius' Intellectual Property. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/bsci.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.14032.32001.
Post-Publication Notes
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
A PDF of this article is here.
The short link for this article is https://bit.ly/bsci-x.
A link to the infringing PowerPoint file is here.
© Copyright 2024 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.
Radio Silence from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons on Report of Blatant Plagiarism in Their ‘Journal of Neurosurgery’ Publication
08 October 2024
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Introduction
Plagiarism, defined as ‘to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own: use (another's production) without crediting the source’ (source: Merriam-Webster), damages trust, credibility, and the value of original content. The theft of intellectual property distorts the scholarly record and results in misinformation. It often violates copyright as well.
Publications must respond decisively to plagiarism reports by swiftly acknowledging complaints, conducting thorough investigations, and taking appropriate actions such as retractions.
Quiz Question
The visual at the top of this article depicts a quiz related to a real situation. Here's the question:
You discovered blatant plagiarism in a Journal of Neurosurgery publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. You reported it—with detailed specifics and indisputable evidence—to the authors, the editors, and the publisher. What should happen next (within five business days)?
๐ A. The publisher or one or more of the authors or editors replies with, “Thank you for alerting us about the violation; we’re looking into it.”
๐ B. The publisher or one or more of the authors or editors challenges you to a duel to defend their honor.
๐ C. Neither the publisher nor any of the authors or editors responds. Radio silence.
Quiz Answer
The question is about what should happen. For that reason, the correct answer about what should happen is: 'A. The publisher or one or more of the authors or editors replies with, "Thank you for alerting us about the violation; we're looking into it."
When publications receive a report of plagiarism, they should promptly acknowledge receipt of the report by responding within no longer than five business days. This action demonstrates transparency, professionalism, and a commitment to maintaining the integrity of the academic record. Conversely, not expeditiously acknowledging receipt of the report conveys a lack of transparency, a lack of professionalism, and a lack of commitment to integrity.
Radio Silence by the Publisher, the Editors, and the Authors
It would be nice if the quiz above was just a hypothetical/thought experiment. Unfortunately, it's related to the real situation where Scott M. Graffius discovered blatant plagiarism in a Journal of Neurosurgery publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and notified the authors, the editors, and the publisher of the violation on 24 September 2024.
As mentioned earlier, publishers should promptly acknowledge receipt of plagiarism reports by responding within no longer than five business days. As of the date of this article (8 October 2024), 10 business days (14 calendar days) have elapsed since the violation was reported. And the publisher, the editors, and the authors maintain radio silence.
Plagiarism is bad. By not acknowledging receipt of the report, the publisher, the editors, and the authors made the bad situation worst. And the publisher has not yet taken action such as retraction of the violating material.
Details follow. If there's an update on this consequential matter after this article is published, the information will appear in the Post-Publication Notes section.
Details on the Plagiarism
On 24 September 2024, Scott M. Graffius observed plagiarism in a Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS) publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. That same day, Graffius wrote to the publisher, the editors, and the authors of the violating material. His email was titled, 'JNS paper plagiarized and damaged the marketability and value of Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property.' It contained detailed specifics and indisputable evidence. Saved as a PDF, Graffius' email is 19 pages.
As a high-level overview, thumbnails of the 19-page email are shown below. Then, select 'readable' excerpts are provided.
Excerpts from Graffius' 19-page email follow. They're shown in italic font.
Here's an excerpt from the introduction section of Graffius' email.
Authors of a Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS) paper plagiarized Graffius’ copyrighted ‘Phases of Team Development’ property, constituting a profound and disgraceful breach of professional ethics, moral standards, and Graffius’ intellectual property rights. Here are the specifics on the publication.
Here's an excerpt from the section of the email with background information.
Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman, Ph.D. and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Scott M. Graffius’ first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his ‘Phases of Team Development.’ It’s a unique perspective on the five phases of team development — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — and it’s inclusive of the characteristics/features/traits and strategies for each phase.
Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ intellectual property is registered with the United States Copyright Office.
The integrated text from Graffius’ copyrighted property applies in this case.
Graffius initially developed his intellectual property in 2008, and he periodically refreshes it. An authorized example of his copyrighted property applicable in this case (2022 edition) is here: https://www.scottgraffius.com/blog/files/teams- 2022.html .
Here's more from the section of the email with background information.
Graffius’ copyright ownership details are integrated into and appear on his copyrighted property. Specifically, it reads: “Copyright © 2008-2022 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact scott@scottgraffius.com.”
Additionally, his respective article includes this: “To request permission to use the 'Phases of Team Development' visual, contact Scott M. Graffius. If approved, high resolution JPG and PNG image files will be provided, subject to terms and conditions.”
And also this: “© Copyright 2022 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.”
Conference organizers, businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities around the world engage Graffius to deliver compelling talks and workshops. To date, he’s presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries, including:
Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ intellectual property is central and key to many of those sessions. His rate card and a listing of his engagements are at https://scottgraffius.com/resources/Exceptional-PPM-and-PMO-Solutions- Rate-Card-for-2024-2025-v24071607.pdf and https://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html, respectively.
With an authorization/license from Graffius, many organizations around the world have featured and used his copyrighted ‘Phases of Team Development’ work. Select examples include:
The following excerpts are from the section of the email detailing the violation.
Again, Graffius’ copyright ownership details and permission request information are clearly noted.
Authors (Whitney E. Muhlestein, MD; Kate W. C. Chang, MA, MS; Denise Justice, OTRL, Sarah Johnson, MS, OTRL; Shawn Brown; and Miriana Popadich, MSN, NP-C) of the JNS paper ('Developing interdisciplinary research teams in neurosurgery: key elements to success in brachial plexus and peripheral nerve surgery') did not request nor receive permission to use Graffius’ copyrighted property.
Nevertheless, the authors used Graffius’ copyrighted property in their JNS article: they plagiarized Graffius’ work, damaging the marketability and value of his intellectual property.
The following excerpts from the email provide some side-by-side examples of Graffius' copyrighted property and the plagiarism in the JNS publication.
The exhibit below also shows some examples of the blatant plagiarism.
The following excerpts are from the conclusion section of Graffius' email.
Graffius’ copyright ownership details are integrated into and appear on his copyrighted property. Specifically, it reads: “Copyright © 2008-2022 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact scott@scottgraffius.com.” Additionally, his article includes this: “To request permission to use the 'Phases of Team Development' visual, contact Scott M. Graffius. If approved, high resolution JPG and PNG image files will be provided, subject to terms and conditions.” And also this: “© Copyright 2022 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.”
Authors (Whitney E. Muhlestein, MD; Kate W. C. Chang, MA, MS; Denise Justice, OTRL, Sarah Johnson, MS, OTRL; Shawn Brown; and Miriana Popadich, MSN, NP-C) of the JNS paper (Developing interdisciplinary research teams in neurosurgery: key elements to success in brachial plexus and peripheral nerve surgery) did not request nor receive permission to use Graffius’ copyrighted property.
The authors of the JNS paper used Graffius’ copyrighted property, including plagiarizing it. The JNS paper did not attribute material to Graffius through citation or otherwise. By doing so, the authors are wrongly leading others to falsely believe that they are the author and owner of Graffius’ respective copyrighted content.
The JNS authors’ plagiarism damaged the marketability and value of Graffius’ copyrighted property.
The aforementioned actions of the authors of the JNS paper are a disgraceful breach of professional ethics, moral standards, and Graffius’ intellectual property rights.
The following excerpt is also from the conclusion section of Graffius' email.
Graffius maintains, enforces, and protects his copyright and other intellectual property rights. He is consulting with an IP attorney in Los Angeles. Graffius reserves his rights in this disturbing and consequential matter.
The preceding provided excerpts of key content—not the full transcript—of Graffius' email.
Authors of the Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS) paper blatantly plagiarized Graffius’ copyrighted ‘Phases of Team Development’ property, constituting a profound and disgraceful breach of professional ethics, moral standards, and Graffius’ intellectual property rights.
It is shocking that neither the publisher nor any of the editors or authors have responded to Graffius' report on the violation. By not acknowledging receipt of the plagiarism report, the publisher signals a lack of transparency, a lack of professionalism, and a lack of commitment to integrity.
And the publisher needs to take appropriate action such as a retraction of the violating material.
If there's an update after this article is published, the information will appear in the Post-Publication Notes section.
About the Journal of Neurosurgery
The Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS) is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of neurosurgery. It is published by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the editor-in-chief is James Rutka. The JNS brands itself as the world’s leading journal on neurosurgery and the official journal of the AANS.
Visit the JNS website to learn more.
Note: Scott M. Graffius included (among others) James Rutka, AANS Editor-in-Chief, on the 24 September 2024 email detailing the plagiarism violation.
About the American Association of Neurological Surgeons
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is dedicated to advancing neurological surgery. The AANS says that through rigorous education, groundbreaking research, robust advocacy, and the advancement of outcomes science, it strives to ensure the highest standards of patient care are met and exceeded. Katie O. Orrico is Chief Executive Officer of the AANS.
Visit the AANS website to learn more.
Note: Scott M. Graffius included (among others) Katie O. Orrico, AANS CEO, on the 24 September 2024 email detailing the plagiarism violation.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is a global leader in agile project management, an expert on teamwork tradecraft, an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms, a creator, a consultant, a trainer, an award-winning author, and an international public speaker.
He's generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he's served — as a consultant through Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions and Exceptional Agility, and as a member of staff at organizations. Businesses and industries range from consumer products to advanced technology (including AI, R&D), e-commerce, music, streaming/OTT video, television, film, video games, financial services, government, and more.
Graffius and content from his books (Agile Scrum and Agile Transformation), talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities around the world. Examples include Adobe, American Management Association, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Bayer, Boston University, Broadcom, Cisco, Deimos Aerospace, DevOps Institute, EU's European Commission, Ford Motor Company, Hasso Plattner Institute Germany, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, London South Bank University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, New Zealand Government, Oracle, Project Management Institute, Torrens University Australia, UC San Diego, TBS Switzerland, UK Sports Institute, University of Galway Ireland, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Tennis Association, Virginia Tech, Warsaw University of Technology, Yale University, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, and many others.
He delights audiences around the world with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops. He's presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries. Visit here to learn more and here to ask Scott to speak at your event.
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change
Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
References/Sources
The following is a list of material on publishing standards and procedures. Some cover the reporting and handling of plagiarism.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, October 8). Radio Silence from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons on Report of Blatant Plagiarism in Their ‘Journal of Neurosurgery’ Publication. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/aans-jns-publication.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25837.40160
Post-Publication Notes
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
A PDF of this article is here
The short link for this article is https://bit.ly/aans-jns
© Copyright 2024 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.
Introduction
Plagiarism, defined as ‘to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own: use (another's production) without crediting the source’ (source: Merriam-Webster), damages trust, credibility, and the value of original content. The theft of intellectual property distorts the scholarly record and results in misinformation. It often violates copyright as well.
Publications must respond decisively to plagiarism reports by swiftly acknowledging complaints, conducting thorough investigations, and taking appropriate actions such as retractions.
Quiz Question
The visual at the top of this article depicts a quiz related to a real situation. Here's the question:
You discovered blatant plagiarism in a Journal of Neurosurgery publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. You reported it—with detailed specifics and indisputable evidence—to the authors, the editors, and the publisher. What should happen next (within five business days)?
๐ A. The publisher or one or more of the authors or editors replies with, “Thank you for alerting us about the violation; we’re looking into it.”
๐ B. The publisher or one or more of the authors or editors challenges you to a duel to defend their honor.
๐ C. Neither the publisher nor any of the authors or editors responds. Radio silence.
Quiz Answer
The question is about what should happen. For that reason, the correct answer about what should happen is: 'A. The publisher or one or more of the authors or editors replies with, "Thank you for alerting us about the violation; we're looking into it."
When publications receive a report of plagiarism, they should promptly acknowledge receipt of the report by responding within no longer than five business days. This action demonstrates transparency, professionalism, and a commitment to maintaining the integrity of the academic record. Conversely, not expeditiously acknowledging receipt of the report conveys a lack of transparency, a lack of professionalism, and a lack of commitment to integrity.
Radio Silence by the Publisher, the Editors, and the Authors
It would be nice if the quiz above was just a hypothetical/thought experiment. Unfortunately, it's related to the real situation where Scott M. Graffius discovered blatant plagiarism in a Journal of Neurosurgery publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and notified the authors, the editors, and the publisher of the violation on 24 September 2024.
As mentioned earlier, publishers should promptly acknowledge receipt of plagiarism reports by responding within no longer than five business days. As of the date of this article (8 October 2024), 10 business days (14 calendar days) have elapsed since the violation was reported. And the publisher, the editors, and the authors maintain radio silence.
Plagiarism is bad. By not acknowledging receipt of the report, the publisher, the editors, and the authors made the bad situation worst. And the publisher has not yet taken action such as retraction of the violating material.
Details follow. If there's an update on this consequential matter after this article is published, the information will appear in the Post-Publication Notes section.
Details on the Plagiarism
On 24 September 2024, Scott M. Graffius observed plagiarism in a Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS) publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. That same day, Graffius wrote to the publisher, the editors, and the authors of the violating material. His email was titled, 'JNS paper plagiarized and damaged the marketability and value of Scott M. Graffius’ copyrighted property.' It contained detailed specifics and indisputable evidence. Saved as a PDF, Graffius' email is 19 pages.
As a high-level overview, thumbnails of the 19-page email are shown below. Then, select 'readable' excerpts are provided.
Excerpts from Graffius' 19-page email follow. They're shown in italic font.
Here's an excerpt from the introduction section of Graffius' email.
Authors of a Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS) paper plagiarized Graffius’ copyrighted ‘Phases of Team Development’ property, constituting a profound and disgraceful breach of professional ethics, moral standards, and Graffius’ intellectual property rights. Here are the specifics on the publication.
- Publication: Journal of Neurosurgery
- Publisher: JNS Publishing Group, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
- Paper: Developing interdisciplinary research teams in neurosurgery: key elements to success in brachial plexus and peripheral nerve surgery
- Authors: Whitney E. Muhlestein, MD; Kate W. C. Chang, MA, MS; Denise Justice, OTRL, Sarah Johnson, MS, OTRL; Shawn Brown; and Miriana Popadich, MSN, NP-C
- Publication Date: 12 May 2023
- Volume/Issue: Volume 139: Issue 6
- Page Range: 1552-1559
- DOI link: https://doi.org/10.3171/2023.4.JNS222254
Here's an excerpt from the section of the email with background information.
Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman, Ph.D. and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Scott M. Graffius’ first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his ‘Phases of Team Development.’ It’s a unique perspective on the five phases of team development — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — and it’s inclusive of the characteristics/features/traits and strategies for each phase.
Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ intellectual property is registered with the United States Copyright Office.
The integrated text from Graffius’ copyrighted property applies in this case.
Graffius initially developed his intellectual property in 2008, and he periodically refreshes it. An authorized example of his copyrighted property applicable in this case (2022 edition) is here: https://www.scottgraffius.com/blog/files/teams- 2022.html .
Here's more from the section of the email with background information.
Graffius’ copyright ownership details are integrated into and appear on his copyrighted property. Specifically, it reads: “Copyright © 2008-2022 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact scott@scottgraffius.com.”
Additionally, his respective article includes this: “To request permission to use the 'Phases of Team Development' visual, contact Scott M. Graffius. If approved, high resolution JPG and PNG image files will be provided, subject to terms and conditions.”
And also this: “© Copyright 2022 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.”
Conference organizers, businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities around the world engage Graffius to deliver compelling talks and workshops. To date, he’s presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries, including:
- Armenia,
- Australia,
- Brazil,
- Canada,
- Czech Republic,
- Finland,
- France,
- Germany,
- Greece,
- Hong Kong,
- Hungary,
- India,
- Ireland,
- Lithuania,
- Luxembourg,
- Nepal,
- Netherlands,
- New Zealand,
- Norway,
- Romania,
- Sweden,
- Switzerland,
- United Arab Emirates,
- United Kingdom,
- and the United States.
Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ intellectual property is central and key to many of those sessions. His rate card and a listing of his engagements are at https://scottgraffius.com/resources/Exceptional-PPM-and-PMO-Solutions- Rate-Card-for-2024-2025-v24071607.pdf and https://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html, respectively.
With an authorization/license from Graffius, many organizations around the world have featured and used his copyrighted ‘Phases of Team Development’ work. Select examples include:
- Adobe,
- American Management Association,
- Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
- Boston University,
- Broadcom,
- Cisco,
- Deimos Aerospace,
- DevOps Institute,
- Erste Group Bank AG (Austria),
- FINAT,
- Ford Motor Company,
- FSU College of Medicine,
- Hasso Plattner Institute (Germany),
- IEEE,
- Johns Hopkins University,
- LeadingEng,
- London South Bank University,
- Manufacturers Alliance,
- Microsoft,
- New Zealand Government,
- Oracle,
- Royal Australasian College of Physicians,
- TBS Switzerland,
- Torrens University (Australia),
- Tufts University,
- U.S. National Park Service,
- U.S. Tennis Association,
- UC San Diego,
- UK Sports Institute,
- University of Galway (Ireland),
- Victorian Institute of Technology (Australia),
- Virginia Tech,
- Warsaw University,
- Western Sydney University (Australia),
- World Resources Institute,
- Yale University,
- ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences,
- and many others.
The following excerpts are from the section of the email detailing the violation.
Again, Graffius’ copyright ownership details and permission request information are clearly noted.
Authors (Whitney E. Muhlestein, MD; Kate W. C. Chang, MA, MS; Denise Justice, OTRL, Sarah Johnson, MS, OTRL; Shawn Brown; and Miriana Popadich, MSN, NP-C) of the JNS paper ('Developing interdisciplinary research teams in neurosurgery: key elements to success in brachial plexus and peripheral nerve surgery') did not request nor receive permission to use Graffius’ copyrighted property.
Nevertheless, the authors used Graffius’ copyrighted property in their JNS article: they plagiarized Graffius’ work, damaging the marketability and value of his intellectual property.
The following excerpts from the email provide some side-by-side examples of Graffius' copyrighted property and the plagiarism in the JNS publication.
- Content from Scott M. Graffius 2022 copyrighted property: “High motivation, trust, and empathy”
- Content from 2023 JNS article, plagiarizing Graffius’ work: “High motivation, trust, and empathy”
- Content from Scott M. Graffius 2022 copyrighted property: “Individuals defer to team needs”
- Content from 2023 JNS article, plagiarizing Graffius’ work: “Individuals defer to team needs”
- Content from Scott M. Graffius 2022 copyrighted property: “Effectively producing deliverables”
- Content from 2023 JNS article, plagiarizing Graffius’ work: “Effectively producing deliverables”
- Content from Scott M. Graffius 2022 copyrighted property: “Consistent performance”
- Content from 2023 JNS article, plagiarizing Graffius’ work: “Consistent performance”
- Content from Scott M. Graffius 2022 copyrighted property: “Demonstrations of interdependence”
- Content from 2023 JNS article, plagiarizing Graffius’ work: “Demonstrations of interdependence”
- Content from Scott M. Graffius 2022 copyrighted property: “Purpose and goals are well-understood”
- Content from 2023 JNS article, plagiarizing Graffius’ work: “Purpose and goals are well-understood”
- Content from Scott M. Graffius 2022 copyrighted property: “More confident”
- Content from 2023 JNS article, plagiarizing Graffius’ work: “More confidence”
- Content from Scott M. Graffius 2022 copyrighted property: “Members are engaged and supportive”
- Content from 2023 JNS article, plagiarizing Graffius’ work: “Members are engaged and supportive”
The exhibit below also shows some examples of the blatant plagiarism.
The following excerpts are from the conclusion section of Graffius' email.
Graffius’ copyright ownership details are integrated into and appear on his copyrighted property. Specifically, it reads: “Copyright © 2008-2022 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact scott@scottgraffius.com.” Additionally, his article includes this: “To request permission to use the 'Phases of Team Development' visual, contact Scott M. Graffius. If approved, high resolution JPG and PNG image files will be provided, subject to terms and conditions.” And also this: “© Copyright 2022 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.”
Authors (Whitney E. Muhlestein, MD; Kate W. C. Chang, MA, MS; Denise Justice, OTRL, Sarah Johnson, MS, OTRL; Shawn Brown; and Miriana Popadich, MSN, NP-C) of the JNS paper (Developing interdisciplinary research teams in neurosurgery: key elements to success in brachial plexus and peripheral nerve surgery) did not request nor receive permission to use Graffius’ copyrighted property.
The authors of the JNS paper used Graffius’ copyrighted property, including plagiarizing it. The JNS paper did not attribute material to Graffius through citation or otherwise. By doing so, the authors are wrongly leading others to falsely believe that they are the author and owner of Graffius’ respective copyrighted content.
The JNS authors’ plagiarism damaged the marketability and value of Graffius’ copyrighted property.
The aforementioned actions of the authors of the JNS paper are a disgraceful breach of professional ethics, moral standards, and Graffius’ intellectual property rights.
The following excerpt is also from the conclusion section of Graffius' email.
Graffius maintains, enforces, and protects his copyright and other intellectual property rights. He is consulting with an IP attorney in Los Angeles. Graffius reserves his rights in this disturbing and consequential matter.
The preceding provided excerpts of key content—not the full transcript—of Graffius' email.
Authors of the Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS) paper blatantly plagiarized Graffius’ copyrighted ‘Phases of Team Development’ property, constituting a profound and disgraceful breach of professional ethics, moral standards, and Graffius’ intellectual property rights.
It is shocking that neither the publisher nor any of the editors or authors have responded to Graffius' report on the violation. By not acknowledging receipt of the plagiarism report, the publisher signals a lack of transparency, a lack of professionalism, and a lack of commitment to integrity.
And the publisher needs to take appropriate action such as a retraction of the violating material.
If there's an update after this article is published, the information will appear in the Post-Publication Notes section.
About the Journal of Neurosurgery
The Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS) is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of neurosurgery. It is published by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the editor-in-chief is James Rutka. The JNS brands itself as the world’s leading journal on neurosurgery and the official journal of the AANS.
Visit the JNS website to learn more.
Note: Scott M. Graffius included (among others) James Rutka, AANS Editor-in-Chief, on the 24 September 2024 email detailing the plagiarism violation.
About the American Association of Neurological Surgeons
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is dedicated to advancing neurological surgery. The AANS says that through rigorous education, groundbreaking research, robust advocacy, and the advancement of outcomes science, it strives to ensure the highest standards of patient care are met and exceeded. Katie O. Orrico is Chief Executive Officer of the AANS.
Visit the AANS website to learn more.
Note: Scott M. Graffius included (among others) Katie O. Orrico, AANS CEO, on the 24 September 2024 email detailing the plagiarism violation.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is a global leader in agile project management, an expert on teamwork tradecraft, an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms, a creator, a consultant, a trainer, an award-winning author, and an international public speaker.
He's generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he's served — as a consultant through Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions and Exceptional Agility, and as a member of staff at organizations. Businesses and industries range from consumer products to advanced technology (including AI, R&D), e-commerce, music, streaming/OTT video, television, film, video games, financial services, government, and more.
Graffius and content from his books (Agile Scrum and Agile Transformation), talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities around the world. Examples include Adobe, American Management Association, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Bayer, Boston University, Broadcom, Cisco, Deimos Aerospace, DevOps Institute, EU's European Commission, Ford Motor Company, Hasso Plattner Institute Germany, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, London South Bank University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, New Zealand Government, Oracle, Project Management Institute, Torrens University Australia, UC San Diego, TBS Switzerland, UK Sports Institute, University of Galway Ireland, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Tennis Association, Virginia Tech, Warsaw University of Technology, Yale University, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, and many others.
He delights audiences around the world with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops. He's presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries. Visit here to learn more and here to ask Scott to speak at your event.
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile frameworkโScrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- ๐ง๐ท Brazil
- ๐จ๐ฆ Canada
- ๐จ๐ฟ Czech Republic
- ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark
- ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland
- ๐ซ๐ท France
- ๐ฉ๐ช Germany
- ๐ฌ๐ท Greece
- ๐ญ๐บ Hungary
- ๐ฎ๐ณ India
- ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland
- ๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel
- ๐ฎ๐น Italy
- ๐ฏ๐ต Japan
- ๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg
- ๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico
- ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands
- ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand
- ๐ณ๐ด Norway
- ๐ช๐ธ Spain
- ๐ธ๐ช Sweden
- ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland
- ๐ฆ๐ช UAE
- ๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- ๐บ๐ธ United States
- ๐ More countries
About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change
Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- ๐ฆ๐บ Australia
- ๐ฆ๐น Austria
- ๐ง๐ท Brazil
- ๐จ๐ฆ Canada
- ๐จ๐ฟ Czech Republic
- ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark
- ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland
- ๐ซ๐ท France
- ๐ฉ๐ช Germany
- ๐ฌ๐ท Greece
- ๐ฎ๐ณ India
- ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland
- ๐ฏ๐ต Japan
- ๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg
- ๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico
- ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands
- ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand
- ๐ช๐ธ Spain
- ๐ธ๐ช Sweden
- ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland
- ๐ฆ๐ช United Arab Emirates
- ๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- ๐บ๐ธ United States
- ๐ More countries
References/Sources
The following is a list of material on publishing standards and procedures. Some cover the reporting and handling of plagiarism.
- Alter, Alexandra (2019, September 22). It’s a Fact: Mistakes are Embarrassing the Publishing Industry. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/22/business/publishing-books-errors.html.
- American Psychological Association (2019, November). Correction Notices. Available at: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/research-publication/correction-notices.
- Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) (2018, November 15). ACM Publications Policy on the Withdrawal, Correction, Retraction, and Removal of Works from ACM Publications and ACM DL. Available at: https://www.acm.org/publications/policies/retraction-policy.
- Cambridge University Press (n.d.). Publishing Ethics. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/flow/information/journal-policies/publishing-ethics.
- Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (n.d.). Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections. Available at: https://publicationethics.org/postpublication.
- Elsevier (n.d.). Policy and Best practice: Errata & Corrigenda. Available at: https://www.elsevier.com/editor/perk/policy-and-best-practice-errata-and-corrigenda.
- Emerald Publishing (n.d.). Article Withdrawal & Correction. Available at: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/publish-with-us/author-policies/article-withdrawal-correction.
- Faust, Jessica (2007, October 3). Typos and Errors After Publication. Available at: https://bookendsliterary.com/typos-and-errors-after-publication.
- Graffius, Scott M. (2024, March 22). The Protocol for Reporting an Error to an Author or Publisher. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/error-reporting.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.18830.98883.
- Graffius, Scott M. (2021, November 10). An Error Was Introduced Into the Seventh Edition of 'A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)'. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/pmbok7.html.
- Idunn (n.d.). Publishing and Research Ethics Policy. Available at: https://www.idunn.no/info/publiseringsetikk.
- IEEE (n.d.). Publishing Ethics: Guidelines and Policies: Post-Publication Policies. Available at: https://books.ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/book-publishing-at-ieee/publishing-ethics/guidelines-and-policies/post-publication-policies.
- Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) (n.d.). Guidelines for Ethical Behavior in Publishing. Available at: https://pubsonline.informs.org/page/opre/guidelines-for-ethical-behavior-in-publishing.
- IntechOpen (n.d.). Retraction and Correction Policy. Available at: https://www.intechopen.com/page/retraction-and-correction-policy.
- Marasoviฤ, Tea; Utrobiฤiฤ, Ana; and Maruลiฤ, Ana (2018, March 31). Transparency of Retracting and Replacing Articles. The Lancet, 391 (10127): 1244-1245.
- Nature (n.d.). Editorial and Publishing Policies. Available at: https://www.nature.com/srep/journal-policies/editorial-policies.
- O’Reilly Media (n.d.). Errata for Java in a Nutshell. Available at: https://www.oreilly.com/catalog/errata.csp?isbn=0636920030775.
- Palgrave Macmillan (n.d.). Corrections and Retractions. Available at: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/editorial-policies/corrections-and-retractions.
- Pearson Education / InformIT (n.d.). Contact Us: Submit Errata. Available at: https://www.informit.com/about/contact_us/index.aspx?ContactUs_Topics_Partners_id=9d39709c-c911-4c96-ac2c-2c5a22d68ba9.
- Project Management Institute (PMI) (n.d.). PMI Standards Program Comment Form. Available at: https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/pmbok-standards/pmi-standards-program-comment-form.pdf.
- Project Management Institute (PMI) (n.d.). Standards Errata Sheets. Available at: https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/pmbok/errata-sheets.
- Public Library of Science (PLOS) (n.d.). Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions. Available at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/corrections-and-retractions.
- SAE International (n.d.). ARINC Standard – Errata Report Template. Available at: https://wcm14.sae.org/site/binaries/content/assets/itc/content/arinc/errata-form.docx [note: selecting the link will download the file].
- Sage Publications (n.d.). Sage Corrections and Retractions Policy. Available at: https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/sage-corrections-and-retractions-policy.
- Science Publishing Group (n.d.). Ethical Guidelines. Available at: https://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/information/ethical-guidelines.
- Springer (n.d.). Editorial Policies: Corrections and Retractions. Available at: https://www.springer.com/gp/editorial-policies/corrections-and-retractions.
- Taylor & Francis (n.d.). Publishing Ethics for Journal Editors: FAQs. Available at: https://editorresources.taylorandfrancis.com/publishing-ethics-for-editors/publishing-ethics-faqs.
- Ubiquity Press (n.d.). Correction and Retraction Policy. Available at: https://ubiquitypress.com/site/corrections.
- Warner, Brooke (2019, April 26). How to Publish a Perfect Book. Available at: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/pw-select/article/79902-how-to-publish-a-perfect-book.html.
- Wiley (n.d.). Best Practice Guidelines on Research Integrity and Publishing Ethics. Available at: https://authorservices.wiley.com/ethics-guidelines/index.html.
- Wiley Author Services (n.d.). Wiley's Policy for Handling Retractions, Withdrawals, and Expressions of Concern. Available at: https://authorservices.wiley.com/ethics-guidelines/retractions-and-expressions-of-concern.html.
- World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (n.d.). Managing Intellectual Property in the Book Publishing Industry. Available at: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/copyright/868/wipo_pub_868.pdf.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, October 8). Radio Silence from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons on Report of Blatant Plagiarism in Their ‘Journal of Neurosurgery’ Publication. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/aans-jns-publication.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25837.40160
Post-Publication Notes
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