It was found that nearly half of the minor co-authors of the papers that were judged to be research fraudulent at Seoul National University were children of Seoul National University professors.



According to the 'Seoul National University Research Integrity Committee Research Integrity Committee's Decision Paper on Research Misconduct by Underage Co-authors' released on the 14th by Seo Dong-young, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee, a total of 22 professors were investigated as fraudulent in the process of registering as underage co-authors.



Among them, 4 cases where their own children were directly listed as co-authors of the thesis, and 5 cases where the children of a fellow Seoul National University professor were listed as co-authors. In addition, if you include the cases of children of acquaintances confirmed as a result of the investigation, it is estimated that much more 'acquaintance' chances are mobilized than this.



In some cases, professors agreed in advance for fear that research misconduct would be exposed. A professor from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, who has listed his daughter and her friend as co-authors, asked a fellow professor to be the corresponding author and said, "If I become the corresponding author, it would be a problem for me to be a daughter-in-law, so I dropped out of the author. I will," he said.



As for the status of research misconduct by college, medical schools accounted for the most with 9 out of 22 cases, followed by 4 veterinary colleges, 2 dental schools, and 1 pharmacy college. Next, 4 cases from the College of Natural Sciences, 1 case from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and 1 case from the College of Social Sciences were discovered.



It has been confirmed that nine of the minor co-authors of the thesis that were judged to have been rejected for research were admitted to Seoul National University.



For the professor who committed research misconduct, Seoul National University issued a fine of 10 'warning' and 3 'caution'.



Seoul National University explained that the statute of limitations for teachers for violating research ethics was three years, so most of them were impossible to take, but a 'warning' was applied in consideration of the seriousness of the matter.



▲ Sejeong Oh, President of Seoul National University, giving an answer


Oh Se-jeong, president of Seoul National University, who attended the National University Corporation audit held by the National Assembly Education Committee held today (14th), said, "I am sorry and ashamed" about the research misconduct of SNU professors, such as thesis by underage co-authors.



However, President Oh added, “The reason why many professors at Seoul National University were caught is because the Research Integrity Committee thoroughly investigated research irregularities.



Regarding the fact that the disciplinary action against professors for misconduct in research was limited to light disciplinary action, he said, "The statute of limitations for disciplinary measures for misconduct in research is 3 years. No action has been taken after 3 years." .



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(Photo = Yonhap News)