Key Points:
Institutional policies and processes relating to PhDs and plagiarism often focus on combating and mitigating plagiarism by candidates, not supervisors plagiarising their candidates. This ABC story about CDU is a ‘perfect’ example of how misconduct by a single academic can harm the reputation of their host institution. This is definitely the kind of press that graduate research schools want to see about their institution.
- Two PhD students made complaints about a CDU supervisor plagiarising their work in 2021
- The supervisor was cleared this year by an internal CDU investigation
- After students appealed, an independent investigation found plagiarism did occur
- In an email to staff last week, obtained by the ABC, CDU vice-chancellor Scott A Charles Darwin University (CDU) academic has been found to have plagiarised the work of his PhD students, using it in research publications under his own name.
In an email to staff last week, obtained by the ABC, CDU vice-chancellor Scott Bowman detailed a complaint made in 2021 by two students “regarding plagiarism of their work by an academic who previously worked with them at CDU”.
Mr Bowman said the complaint involved a social sciences PhD supervisor using students’ work in “some journal articles, and maybe in some book chapters as well”.
The academic, who the ABC understands has since died by illness, was initially cleared of wrongdoing by a botched and delayed internal investigation by CDU.
