{"id":7764,"date":"2015-03-09T09:05:15","date_gmt":"2015-03-09T09:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress72\/?p=27305"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:25","slug":"lowi-plagiarism-in-rsm-thesis-was-no-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2015\/03\/09\/lowi-plagiarism-in-rsm-thesis-was-no-accident\/","title":{"rendered":"LOWI: Plagiarism in RSM thesis was no accident"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The plagiarism committed by a PhD student at the RSM in her thesis was intended, according to the National Board for Research Integrity (LOWI). The reprimand she received \u2018can be considered a toothless sanction and as tacit approval of a serious form of plagiarism\u2019. <\/p>\n

In June last year, it became known that large chunks of text in a thesis by an external PhD student at Rotterdam School of Management had been plagiarised<\/a>. The research integrity committee at Erasmus University advised that the PhD title should be revoked<\/a>, but the executive board did not feel this was necessary. The student\u2019s supervisor had apparently been so remiss that she could not have done much about it. <\/p>\n

Personal responsibility<\/b><\/p>\n

Rubbish, according to the National Board for Research Integrity<\/a> (LOWI). The fact that the supervisor \u201cfailed badly\u201d was \u201cabsolutely clear\u201d, but that does not relieve someone of their own responsibility. Furthermore, so much text had been copied that the student must have realised that she had gone too far. According to the LOWI, this was a conscious case of plagiarism and not the result of \u201cnegligence or error\u201d. <\/p>\n

Tacit approval of plagiarism<\/b><\/p>\n

The PhD student concerned was given a reprimand and instructed to revise her thesis by 1 October. For the rest, her error had very few consequences. Furthermore, the student did not work at the university, but was an \u2018external PhD student\u2019. In her case, a reprimand means nothing. A sanction can therefore \u201cbe considered a \u2018toothless sanction\u2019 and as tacit approval of a serious form of plagiarism\u201d, writes the LOWI. <\/p>\n

Withdraw doctor\u2019s title now?<\/b><\/p>\n

What now? According to the LOWI, Erasmus University has two options. If the board is really unwilling to revoke the doctor\u2019s title, it needs a better defence for its decision. For example, the LOWI misses the \u201cimportant aspect\u201d that society as a whole also has a vested interest: it must be able to assume that a doctor\u2019s title has a certain value and that there is no question of \u201cdeceit or manipulation\u201d. The interests of the institute should also play a role. If it becomes known that the university allows people to obtain a PhD even though there has been serious plagiarism, this can harm the \u201cname and fame\u201d of the institute.<\/p>\n

Option two is to revoke her doctor\u2019s title anyway. That is a complicated procedure because the law has no provisions for revoking that degree. However, the LOWI does not feel that it is impossible. In its advice, it explains what the legal steps could be. <\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

No response as long as the investigation is ongoing<\/p>\n

According to a spokesperson, the Executive Board does not wish to respond to the LOWI report now because the investigation is still continuing in Rotterdam. A committee headed by RSM dean Steef van de Velde is currently studying the revised thesis which will then be reviewed again by the Doctorate Board. At the same time, experts outside the university are investigating all ten PhD theses produced under supervisor Teun Hardjono. No response to LOWI\u2019s advice will be issued before these investigations have been completed.<\/p>\n

The plagiarism was discovered last year by sociologist Floor Basten. She was already familiar with the LOWI advice but she was surprised to hear that it was already online. She hopes that the university will follow the advice. HOP\/TF<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Latest news<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t