February 24, 2011

German minister loses doctorate after plagiarism row

Germany's defence minister has been stripped of his university doctorate after he was found to have copied large parts of his work from others.
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, an aristocrat who lives in a Bavarian castle, admitted breaching standards but denied deliberately cheating.
Analysis revealed that more than half of his thesis had long sections lifted word-for-word from the work of others.
So far the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has stood by the minister.
The University of Bayreuth decided that Mr Guttenberg had "violated scientific duties to a considerable extent".
It deplored the fact that he had lifted sections of text without attribution.
Last week Mr Guttenberg said he would temporarily give up his PhD title while the university investigated the charges of plagiarism. He admitted that he had made "serious mistakes".
His thesis - Constitution and Constitutional Treaty: Constitutional Developments in the US and EU - was completed in 2006 and published in 2009.
Chancellor Merkel insisted on Monday that she was standing by her defence minister, who was seen as something of a rising star in her conservative coalition.
"I appointed Guttenberg as minister of defence," she told reporters.
"I did not appoint him as an academic assistant or doctor. What is important to me is his work as minister of defence and he carries out these duties perfectly."

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Random Posts


  • Rampant Fraud Threat to China’s Brisk Ascent - The New York Times

    By ANDREW JACOBS BEIJING — No one disputes Zhang Wuben’s talents as a salesman. Through television shows, DVDs and a best-selling book, he convinced millions of people that raw eggplant and immense quantities of mung beans could cure lupus, diabetes, depression and cancer. For $450, seriously ill pa... READ MORE>>

  • Opinion: How to prevent fraud - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences

    Suresh Radhakrishnan Thoughts on how to catch scientific misconduct early from a researcher recently convicted of the offense Misconduct in science is increasing at an alarming rate, and is an issue that needs to be addressed. The constantly evolving technology, the arrival of online-only journals, ... READ MORE>>

  • Understanding Publication Ethics

    Geraldine S. Pearson* >>> A recent survey of 524 editors of Wiley-Blackwell science journals (including nursing journals) asked about the severity and frequency of ethical issues, editor confidence in handling these, and awareness of COPE guidelines (Wager, Fiack, Graf, Robinson, &... READ MORE>>

  • Singapore Statement Urges Global Consensus on Research Integrity

    Scientists, scientific journals, and research institutions must adhere to an international set of ethical standards and consider the social implications of their work, says a new statement from 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity, co-sponsored by AAAS.The Singapore Statement on Research In... READ MORE>>

  • SINGAPORE STATEMENT on RESEARCH INTEGRITY

    BackgroundThe principles and responsibilities set out in the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity represent the first international effort to encourage the development of unified policies, guidelines and codes of conduct, with the long-range goal of fostering greater integrity in research world... READ MORE>>

  • More retractions from Nobelist - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences

    Two prominent journals have retracted papers by Nobel laureate Linda Buck today because she was "unable to reproduce [the] key findings" of experiments done by her former postdoctoral researcher Zhihua Zou, according to a statement made by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), where Bu... READ MORE>>

  • A Reflection on Plagiarism, Patchwriting, and the Engineering Master's Thesis

    Edward J. Eckel, edward.eckel@wmich.edu How many times has a graduate student asked you questions such as the following: "How many words do I need to change so I'm not plagiarizing?" or "If my professor gives me his article or patent and tells me to go ahead and 'use it', do I need to cite it?... READ MORE>>

.

.
.

Popular Posts