I was informed by a colleague that a pair of presenters (I don’t want to publish their name) presented a paper at a conference, which was strikingly similar to my original work submitted about a year ago and awarded prestigious awards.
A formal complaint was mailed to the conference organizers. After a few weeks of formal requests, they responded me that they would not be able to share the paper or presentation submitted by the group, which I could use as proof for filing a complaint at my alma mater. In the meantime, I instead shared the executive summary of own work and requested them to take action accordingly. However, two months later I have not received any response.
Further investigation at my university led me to yet another shocking discovery. My thesis had been issued from the department library by another student plagiarized word by word in its entirety. It is not a matter of unintended plagiarism. Both the parties had full knowledge that the work is my original work and knowingly plagiarized the same. The formal proof is missing CD of my work submitted to the library and issuance of the hard copy in their name.
A complaint was filed at my alma mater. After a month of pursuit, the university issued an ambiguous order against the student asking her to re-submit her thesis, while no action was undertaken against her supervisor (leading researcher at the university). She and the others continue to make use of original work without permission, copy-paste it and present at international conferences.
Above all, I was told informally to stop pursuing further as that would hamper my scope of job opportunities and support for doctoral research, which I am applying for currently.
I seek your sympathetic ear as well as advice on the matter.
Plagiarism is undermining academic and professional standing and if I am not wrong in putting in a proposal, should be of direct concern for all higher education institutions. It would be in a good position to fight for universal standards against plagiarism, wherever it occurs.
Dear colleague,
Thank you for reaching out to us. I want to express a word of sorrow for the situation that you have experienced.
It’s clear that you have taken the right actions and contacted the right people to report your situation. It’s unfortunate that this case wasn’t taken with the seriousness of the situation it deserved by the multiple parties involved.
Our best advice in this case would be to remove yourself from this environment and pursue your PhD studies in a different Institution. The trust is already broken and you should avoid having your research associated with such an Institution. You might also consider reporting your case to the Ministry of Education in your country, or putting the case to court. However, we must warn you both might be tedious, time (and money) consuming, and potentially dangerous.
Unfortunately, cases like yours seem to continue to happen. Nevertheless, you did the right thing to report it and take the necessary actions to demand a consequence. Cases of plagiarism should never go unspoken.
ENAI cannot intervene directly in the processes of particular universities. However, if you need more detailed advice or another kind of support, feel free to contact us.
We hope you find our advice useful and wish you success in your future endeavours.
I am facing a similar problem at my university to which I would like to ask for your advice on the actions I should take.
My PhD studies were abruptly terminated, because I made a formal complaint at my university concerning the unethical behaviours from my supervisor (including plagiarism, IP theft). I have lost my four academic years and my scholarship. I was asked to drop my complaints and accept financial compensation and a MPhil degree, which I declined to do. My university keeps bullying and discriminating against me. What can I do?
Dear colleague,
After a thorough discussion with a team of mentors from ENAI and the FAITH project about your case, I would like to provide our advice on the situation you are facing.
We understand that your university decided to terminate your PhD studies. However, if not considered before, we would like to offer some guidance on the potential actions you can
take to expose your situation and seek support. First, we would advise reporting your situation to the Ethics Committee at your university. We also advise reporting your case
following the formal reporting procedures for students that are available at your university. We believe you may find guidance from these two options. Additionally, you may seek legal
advice from the advocacy services that are available to students considering the financial issues you mentioned. Finally, if none of these actions results in a positive outcome, we advise
you to contact the Ministry for Higher Education to report your case. It is possible they have procedures for cases like yours that might help you to find a way forward. If your PhD
programme has funding, you should consider contacting the funder to explain what happened to you and seek clarification on your options.
We hope you find these suggestions helpful and wish you every success in your future endeavours.
Kind regards,
Rita Santos