Hue University said 'it has no right to evaluate plagiarized doctoral theses' is it true or false?

The doctoral thesis of graduate student Le Thi An Hoa was completed and submitted for deposit in 2018 - Photo archive

Recently, after announcing the conclusion of the case regarding the plagiarism allegations against the doctoral dissertation of the head of the scientific research department of the Hue Ancient Citadel Conservation Center, Mr. Le Anh Phuong – Director of Hue University – stated:

“We do not have the authority to evaluate doctoral dissertations that are plagiarized. Hue University also has no right to take action against the supervisor and the doctoral dissertation evaluation committee in this case, as this falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Training .”

The Ministry of Education and Training reserves the right to establish a thesis appraisal council.

The doctoral thesis was accused of plagiarism by author Le Thi An Hoa - head of scientific research department of Hue Monuments Conservation Center.

Ms. Hoa was a doctoral student majoring in history in the 2013 cohort at the University of Science (Hue University). She successfully defended her doctoral thesis in 2018 and was subsequently awarded her PhD.

In 2009, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular 10/2009/TT-BGDĐT (Regulations on doctoral training). In 2012, the Ministry further issued Circular 05/2012/TT-BGDĐT (Amending and supplementing some articles of the Regulations on doctoral training issued with Circular 10/2009).

In 2017, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular 08/2017/TT-BGDĐT (Regulations on admission and training for doctoral degrees) to replace Circular 10/2009.

Currently, universities are applying the regulations on doctoral admissions and training according to Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDĐT issued by the Ministry of Education and Training on August 15, 2021, replacing Circular 08/2017.

Because Ms. Hoa is a PhD student in 2013, Circular 10/2009 and Circular 05/2012 apply.

Accordingly, the evaluation of training records, thesis content, and thesis quality is carried out in the following cases: random evaluation: randomly selecting from a number of thesis files that have been defended based on reports from the training institution for evaluation; when there are complaints or denunciations regarding training records, thesis content, and thesis quality.

In case there is a petition, complaint or denunciation about the content or quality of the thesis or the thesis has at least 2 disapproving appraisal opinions, the Ministry of Education and Training shall issue a decision to establish a thesis appraisal council and authorize the head of the training institution with the doctoral student to organize a thesis appraisal council meeting under the supervision of a representative of the ministry.

Associate Professor Dr. Trinh Quoc Trung - Head of the Postgraduate Training Department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Law - commented: "Because the doctoral student defended his thesis in 2018 and was awarded a degree, at this time, the response of the Hue University leadership is appropriate. The authority to establish a thesis appraisal council belongs to the Ministry of Education and Training (Clause 9, Article 40) Circular 05/2012".

The basis for determining whether a doctoral thesis is plagiarized is appropriate.

After receiving the complaint, the director of Hue University instructed the establishment of a verification team to investigate two issues: plagiarism and misuse of historical sources in Ms. Hoa's doctoral dissertation.

Upon verification, Hue University issued a conclusion citing a series of grounds (the Law on Denunciation; decrees and circulars related to regulations on resolving complaints and denunciations; Hue University's academic integrity regulations in 2023...).

According to the conclusion: The content of the accusation that the doctoral thesis is plagiarized is correct. The plagiarism error is determined to be 12 pages (based on the provisions of Clause 6, Article 3 of Decision No. 1860/QD-DHH dated November 30, 2023 of the Director of Hue University regulating academic integrity in master's and doctoral training at Hue University).

Furthermore, the thesis contains historical inaccuracies.

Commenting on the above conclusion, Mr. Trinh Quoc Trung said: “The 2023 academic integrity regulations of Hue University state 'In case of complaints/denunciations about violations of academic integrity regarding published academic products of former students at member training units'.

This regulation is applied retroactively to publications within Hue University.

Therefore, basing the verification of the dissertation content on this regulation is appropriate. However, in this case, Hue University only conducted a plagiarism check and did not actually evaluate the dissertation. They forwarded the results of the verification of the allegations to the Ministry of Education and Training and recommended that the minister establish a dissertation content evaluation council to resolve the matter within the ministry's authority, which is in accordance with regulations.”

Who has the authority to revoke a doctorate?

However, the above conclusion cites Circular 08/2017 (Regulations on Doctoral Training in 2017). According to experts, this is incorrect because this regulation does not apply to Ms. Hoa's case.

Regarding the request by the director of Hue University for the author of the thesis to “edit the contents pointed out in the conclusion of the denunciation and submit a copy according to current regulations”, the head of the postgraduate training department of a school under the National University of Ho Chi Minh City commented: “In principle, this is not allowed because the thesis has been published and submitted. Only after the conclusion of the ministry can that idea be done, if permitted”.

According to Circular 05/2012, for theses that meet the requirements during evaluation but have opinions from independent evaluators or evaluation councils requesting corrections, the school or institute-level thesis evaluation council, together with the supervisor and graduate student, will review and decide on points that need to be supplemented or edited.

After the doctoral candidate completes the revisions, the chairman of the university-level dissertation evaluation committee checks and confirms the details of the added and revised content, and reports to the head of the training institution to award the doctoral degree to the candidate according to the prescribed requirements.

Regarding the statement by the director of Hue University that "only the Ministry of Education and Training has the right to revoke plagiarized doctoral dissertations," the regulations stipulate that for dissertations that fail the evaluation process, if a doctoral degree has already been awarded, the matter will be handled according to current laws applicable to the degree.

"Therefore, if the evaluation committee concludes that the dissertation is unsatisfactory, the Ministry of Education and Training will request the training institution that awarded the doctoral degree to revoke the diploma issued to the student," an expert added.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/dai-hoc-hue-noi-khong-co-quyen-tham-dinh-luan-an-tien-si-dao-van-dung-hay-sai-2024112719083821.htm