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It seems someone is reposing question titles from Chinese.SE onto Quora. The questions are all "authored" by Dex Jackson at Quora. (This same user was reported months ago on meta.SE.)

The plagiarism is taking place live on Dex Jackson's Quora activity page. The most recent plagiarism:

Math.SE (yesterday): Puzzle about a spinning table with a coin on each corner.
Quora (July 7, 2020, 11:40:34 AM [listed as "5m ago"]): How do you handle a puzzle about a spinning table with a coin on each corner (combinatorics, combinations, puzzles binary, math)?

I contacted Stack Exchange as per:

Please contact us directly using the on-site form. Select the "Stack Exchange content is being reproduced without attribution" option from the drop-down, and provide as much information as possible.
A site (or scraper) is copying content from Stack Exchange. What should I do?, meta.SE

Chinese.SE examples:

  1. Chinese.SE (Apr 29 at 8:59): Which is correct: 已经毕业了两年大学 or 已经大学毕业了两年?
    Quora (April 29, 2020, 11:37:09 PM): Which is correct: "已经毕业了两年大学" or "已经大学毕业了两年" (grammar, phrasing, word order, Chinese)?

  2. Chinese.SE (May 17 at 16:19): What is the function of 就是
    Quora (May 18, 2020, 1:28:47 AM): What is the function of "就是" (grammar, usage, meaning in context, word, sentence, structure, and Chinese)?

  3. Chinese.SE (Jun 13 at 22:25): Why is 的 mandatory in the sentence 坐四十五分钟的二百七路
    Quora (June 14, 2020, 7:46:39 AM): Why is "的" mandatory in the sentence "坐四十五分钟的二百七路" (grammar, syntax, Chinese)?

  4. Chinese.SE (Jun 23 at 7:16): Meaning of 的 in 我十岁才到的美国
    Quora (June 24, 2020, 8:34:15 AM): What is the meaning of "的" in "我十岁才到的美国" (grammar, meaning in context, Chinese)?

  5. Chinese.SE (Jul 3 at 23:02): Can you still use “Number + MW + 多” when the Number can be more than one MW larger?
    Quora (July 4, 2020, 8:23:11 AM): Can you still use “Number + MW + 多” when the number can be more than one MW larger (grammar, usage, meaning in context, sentence, structure, and Chinese)?

  6. Chinese.SE ("19 hours ago" [July 10]): How is “Noun + Adj + Adj + 的” (reduplication of adjectives) grammatically equivalent to “Noun + (Adv of degree) + Adj”
    Quora ("45m ago"): How is “Noun + Adj + Adj + 的” (reduplication of adjectives) grammatically equivalent to “Noun + (Adv of degree) + Adj” (grammar, sentence structure, Chinese)?

  7. Chinese.SE ("22 hours ago" [July 15]): Does 伊 have any special meaning?
    Quora ("18h ago"): Does "伊" have any special meaning (meaning, names, definition, surnames, Chinese)?

    1, It can be used like “he”, “she”.(There are few people use this word and even don’t know this meaning in China.)

    2, It’s a family name in China.(It’s about 1.7-million people use this family name in China now.)

    3, It often be used to translate some people’s or nations’ name such as Ishtar called 伊什塔尔(“I” become to “伊”), Iran called 伊朗.

    (answer by Hanxy Zank at Quora)

The author is copy/questions from other sites, for example:

  1. SignalProcessing.SE (Sep 28 '13 at 10:45): Why normalize the data set before applying Direct Linear Transform
    Quora (March 30, 2020, 1:33:53 AM): Why do we normalize datasets before applying Direct Linear Transform (image processing, homography, normalization, DSP)?

  2. Korean.SE (Mar 28 at 6:31): Use of the word 한걸요
    Quora (March 29, 2020, 3:51:19 PM): How do you use the word "한걸요" (spoken Korean vocabulary)?

  3. DIY.SE (Mar 29 at 0:39): Will it cause problems to shower without the exhaust fan and only turn it on afterwards?
    Quora (March 30, 2020, 1:33:02 AM): What problems could showering without the exhaust fan cause (bathroom, moisture, DIY, steam, mold, damage)?

  4. Math.SE (Mar 29 at 9:52): How to prove the determinant of covariance matrix is zero, when n≤p?
    Quora (March 30, 2020, 12:36:18 AM): How do you prove the determinant of covariance matrix is zero, when n≤p (covariance matrix, singular, determinant)?

  5. TeX.SE (Mar 29 at 10:40): Cell Width in Tikzpicture creating error due to text width
    Quora (March 30, 2020, 12:33:30 AM): Why would cell width in Tikzpicture create an error due to text width in TeX (tikz pgf, landscape, tikz graphdrawing, Tikz calendar)?

  6. Worldbuilding.SE (Mar 29 at 11:21): Resources to justify the use of musical instruments in an alien planet?
    Quora (March 30, 2020, 12:56:22 AM): What resources would justify the use of musical instruments in an alien planet (gas, air, atmosphere, materials)?

  7. Physics.SE (Mar 29 at 16:06): Does the concept of infinity have any relevancy or application in Physics and applied Physics? [duplicate]
    Quora (March 30, 2020, 12:42:47 AM): Does the concept of infinity have any relevancy or application in physics and applied physics (mathematical physics)?

  8. Japanese.SE (Mar 29 at 21:18): What is the etymological origin of the word キノピオ (Toad in Super Mario Bros)?
    Quora (March 30, 2020, 5:29:07 AM): What is the etymological origin of the word "キノピオ" (Toad, Super Mario Bros, katakana, loanwords, video games)?

There are too many examples to list in full.

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  • 1
    I added links to the Stack Exchange questions this user copied from. I'm now banned (I think for two weeks): "Quora Moderation blocked you from editing on Quora". Oh well. Hopefully they will do something about this plagiarism. – Becky 李蓓♦ Jul 7 at 3:19
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    Thanks for reporting the issue to Quora and editing the SE meta post. I think the more people complain about it, the more likely it is that Quora or Stack Exchange does something. – Franck Dernoncourt Jul 7 at 4:09
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    I went through about 100 of this user's posts and flagged them, pinpointing the origin; I hope it'll achieve something, but it probably won't (judging from Quora's business model). (At the very least, I can say I tried.) This all makes me furious! – Becky 李蓓♦ Jul 7 at 4:11
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    Same, I'm not too happy about it. So long with the Stack Exchange licence. Both Quora and Stack Exchange have shown zero interest so far. This says a lot on their stance on user content. – Franck Dernoncourt Jul 7 at 4:14
  • PS: don't forget to leave crap reviews of Quora in any place you can think of, e.g. goo.gl/maps/MMCQoJj6ACZH71DJ7, app stores, etc. That's another way to get some attention of other Quora employees, since their mod team doesn't care. – Franck Dernoncourt Jul 7 at 4:16
  • That Quora doesn't care isn't particularly surprising. Personally, I filter Quora results out of my Google searches altogether. Instead it's surprising that SE doesn't care, since this infringes on their content... – blackgreen Jul 7 at 14:42
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    FWIW, I have once reported a different user on Quora directly for plagiarizing 12 answers from SE (and I still have a copy of the report on my PC), but they didn't do anything at all. I don't have high hope about it, seems a losing battle even if anyone else tries reporting them... – Andrew T. Jul 8 at 12:28
  • I think there is something to be said about "objecting": making sure that there are visible posts on the internet documenting Quora's misbehavior. (a) Experts may not be willing to participate on such an unprofessional site (it may hurt their career). (b) If Stack Exchange (or even a third company) takes legal action against Quora, they have concrete, timestamped evidence. – Becky 李蓓♦ Jul 8 at 12:35
  • Let's also be careful of plagiarism in the other way. That Reddit question you brought here in Why is the traditional character for 你 also 你 and not 儞 when the traditional character for 尔 is 爾? looks like it comes from this Quora question. – dROOOze Jul 12 at 8:17
  • Thanks; I added attribution to the question. It's such a natural question to ask. – Becky 李蓓♦ Jul 12 at 8:22

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