ISM finds plagiarism in Sinkevičius’s doctoral dissertation

ISM University of Management and Economics has found plagiarism and improper use of text in Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius’s doctoral dissertation, but says the violations do not warrant revoking his degree. The university’s ethics committee has given him six months to correct them, LRT reported.

The committee’s decision, dated October 26 and reviewed by BNS, found significant breaches of academic writing, citation and source attribution in Sinkevičius’s 2015 dissertation, “Alcohol Consumption in the Context of Conflicting Social and Personal Factors.” The committee said the breaches included cases of plagiarism.

It concluded that Sinkevičius had violated the university’s code of ethics and the doctoral regulations’ requirement that a dissertation be the author’s independent work. He must address the violations within six months after the requirements for a correction addendum have been approved and published under university rules.

The committee said the nature and extent of the breaches, alongside the proper completion of doctoral requirements, did not provide sufficient grounds to recommend revoking the degree.

The university also recommended improving procedures for publishing dissertations in the eLABa/ETD database. ISM said its ethics committee used international experts with experience in academic ethics, research ethics and accountability to ensure an objective investigation.

The inquiry followed public discussion in July about possible plagiarism in the dissertation. Sinkevičius has repeatedly said he prepared the work ethically and denied the allegations. He defended the dissertation at ISM in 2015.