Sinkevičius awaits new inquiry into dissertation

Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius says he will wait for the results of a new investigation into possible irregularities in his dissertation, LRT reported.

“I think my university, ISM University of Management and Economics, answered the questions after examining the work and identifying points that will be corrected,” Sinkevičius told reporters. “We can investigate further what has already been investigated. We will wait for the new investigation and its results.”

The Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures has opened a new inquiry after ISM’s Ethics Commission found plagiarism in the prime minister’s dissertation. The office has not disclosed who submitted the complaint. It said disruptions to email and electronic-signature systems had so far prevented it from signing and sending its decision.

ISM’s commission found significant breaches involving academic writing, citations and attribution of sources, including instances of plagiarism. It concluded that Sinkevičius had breached the university’s principle that a dissertation must be independent work. He was ordered to correct the dissertation within six months.

Sinkevičius acknowledged the citation and source-marking violations but said he did not question the research value of his work. He said a publicly available correction supplement would be prepared under the university’s procedures. He also said the doctoral committee had found that the dissertation retained its research value and that the Ethics Commission considered initiating proceedings to revoke his degree disproportionate.

Sinkevičius defended his dissertation, titled “Alcohol Consumption in the Context of Conflicting Social and Personal Factors,” in 2015.