‘4-week’ DU plagiarism probe drags for 3 months

 

Five teachers of Dhaka University (DU) were charged with plagiarism three months ago, but the university is yet to complete the investigation. The probe committee that was formed at that time was given only four weeks to complete the probe.

Vice-chancellor (VC) Prof. Md Akhtaruzzaman had formed the committee in a Syndicate meeting. The five-member team is headed by pro-VC (academic) Prof. Nasreen Ahmad.

Prof. Ahmad told The Independent, “I do not know why we were given only four weeks. We need more time and we have told the VC about it. But we will complete the inquiry.”

“I have heard that the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) has suspended three teachers for plagiarism in research. But, every university has his own laws and formalities. We are working on the matter,” she added.

KUET suspended three teachers for plagiarism in research on Monday. Mechanical engineering department’s Prof. Mohammad Mashud and assistant professor Abdullah Al Bari, and energy science and engineering department’s Assistant Prof Hasan Ali have been barred from all academic and administrative activities. The DU VC said, “The committee has told me that they are working on the probe, but they need more time.  There is no chance for practising plagiarism in DU. In the past, too, DU had taken steps against plagiarists. This time, too, we will do so.”

On September 27, two DU teachers were accused of plagiarising from the works of French philosopher Michel Foucault and Prof. Edward Said. The accused teachers were Samia Rahman, Associate Prof of mass communication and journalism, and Syed Mahfujul Haque Marjan, a lecturer in the criminology department. Similar allegations were also raised against tourism and hospitality management department’s Assistant Prof Md Bodruzzaman Bhuiyan and two other teachers Nusrat Jahan and Ruhul Amin. Samia and Marjan’s article—‘A new dimension of colonialism and pop culture: A case study of the cultural imperialism’—was published in December 2016 in the ‘Social Science Review’.  

It is the journal of the DU’s social science faculty and is published twice a year (June and December) by the DU registrar. Prof. Farid Uddin Ahmed, former dean of the social science faculty and the new VC of Shahajalal University of Science and Technology, was the editor of the publication.

Samia and Marjan copied from Foucault’s article titled ‘The Subject and Power’ without proper citations. The 19-page article by Foucault was published in the University of Chicago Press’s journal Critical Inquiry’s Volume 8, Number 4, in 1982.

Samia, who is also the head of current affairs of a private TV channel, has claimed that Marjan wrote that particular part and she was abroad at that time. On the other hand, Marjan has pleaded that Samia is the first author and he is the second. Bodruzzaman has been charged with plagiarism in his thesis titled ‘Socioeconomic Impact of Tourism in Cox’s Bazar: A Study of Local Residence Attitude’, while Nusrat and Ruhul have been accused of self-plagiarism by Prof Md Afzal Hossain of the same department.

While plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own, self-plagiarism means reusing sections of one’s own previous work without acknowledging that or properly citing the original work in the new one.

 

4-week DU plagiarism probe drags for 3 months

Five teachers of Dhaka University (DU) were charged with plagiarism three months ago, but the university is yet to complete the investigation. The probe committee that was formed at that time was given only four weeks to complete the probe. Vice-chancellor (VC) Prof. Md Akhtaruzzaman had formed the committee in a Syndicate meeting. The five-member team is headed by pro-VC (academic) Prof. Nasreen Ahmad. Prof. Ahmad told The Independent, I do not know why we were given only four weeks. We need more time and we have told the VC about it. But we will complete the inquiry. I have heard that the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) has suspended three teachers for plagiarism in research. But, every university has his own laws and formalities. We are working on the matter, she added. KUET suspended three teachers for plagiarism in research on Monday. Mechanical engineering departments Prof. Mohammad Mashud and assistant professor AbdullahAl Bari, and energy science and engineering departments Assistant Prof Hasan Ali have been barred from all academic and administrative activities. The DU VC said, The committee has told me that they are working on the probe, but they need more time. There is no chance for practising plagiarism in DU. In the past, too, DU had taken steps against plagiarists. This time, too, we will do so. On September 27, two DU teachers were accused of plagiarising from the works of French philosopher Michel Foucault and Prof. Edward Said. The accused teachers were Samia Rahman, Associate Prof of mass communication and journalism, and Syed Mahfujul Haque Marjan, a lecturer in the criminology department. Similar allegations were also raised against tourism and hospitality management departments Assistant Prof Md Bodruzzaman Bhuiyan and two other teachers Nusrat Jahan and Ruhul Amin. Samia and Marjans articleA new dimension of colonialism and pop culture: A case study of the cultural imperialismwas published in December 2016 in the Social Science Review. It is the journal of the DUs social science faculty and is published twice a year (June and December) by the DU registrar. Prof. Farid Uddin Ahmed, former dean of the social science faculty and the new VC of Shahajalal University of Science and Technology, was the editor of the publication. Samia and Marjan copied from Foucaults article titled The Subject and Power without proper citations. The 19-page article by Foucault was published in the University of Chicago Presss journal Critical Inquirys Volume 8, Number 4, in 1982. Samia, who is also the head of current affairs of a private TV channel, has claimed that Marjan wrote that particular part and she was abroad at that time. On the other hand, Marjan has pleaded that Samia is the first author and he is the second. Bodruzzaman has been charged with plagiarism in his thesis titled Socioeconomic Impact of Tourism in Coxs Bazar: A Study of Local Residence Attitude, while Nusrat and Ruhul have been accused of self-plagiarism by Prof Md Afzal Hossain of the same department. While plagiarism is the practice of taking someone elses work or ideas and passing them off as ones own, self-plagiarism means reusing sections of ones own previous work without acknowledging that or properly citing the original work in the new one.