Case Study

Professor Salem has just received funding from the Department of Defense to do research on novel optical materials. A friend of his at another university, Professor Northfield, has just learned of a funding possibility from the National Science Foundation for similar research. The deadline is just a week away, so Professor Northfield is scrambling to develop his proposal. He calls Professor Salem and to ask for help in locating references for his introductory section. Professor Salem offers to email him the introductory section from his successful DoD proposal, suggesting he paste it directly into his NSF proposal. Is it ethical for Professor Northfield to use the material provided by Professor Salem in this way?