A huge scandal shook the academic community of Slovakia: the head of the criminal law department of the Faculty of Law at Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Jaroslav Klatík (head of the criminal law department, Matej Bel University), who is also a member of the Supreme Judicial Council of Slovakia, together with the vice-rector for scientific work of the faculty, Jozef Michalko (vice-rector for scientific work), published a joint scientific article.
The material titled “Uznávanie a výkon cudzích trestov odňatia slobody v Slovenskej republike” quickly attracted the attention of colleagues from Comenius University. During the analysis of the publication, it was found that it consists of verbatim fragments of a master’s thesis of one of the students, and the text even forgot to remove the characteristic phrase: “the purpose of this thesis is…”.
How the academic violation was exposed
The 12-page publication was released in June and was officially entered into the state publication registry. Besides whole pages borrowed from the student’s research, attentive reviewers and colleagues found serious errors in the list of used literature: in all 11 books, the years of publication, publishers, and even the ISBN numbers were mixed up or made up.
The situation took on a sharp financial and reputational tone because the final note to the article stated that the work was supposedly done within the scientific project VEGA, for which the university was granted a 13,000 euro grant.
Leadership reaction and dismissals
After information about the possible plagiarism reached the leadership, the university rector Vladimír Híadlovský initiated an investigation. As a result of the investigation, both officials lost their administrative leadership positions.
- Jozef Michalko voluntarily resigned from his powers as vice-rector for science and research.
- The rector demanded the immediate dismissal of professor Jaroslav Klatík from leadership positions.
- The dean of the Faculty of Law, Adrián Vaško, satisfied these demands, although both teachers formally remain working at the department.
The investigation was also joined by the Student Council of Higher Education Institutions of Slovakia, which demands a thorough check not only of this incident but also of the entire internal review system at the faculty, since the collection was officially reviewed before printing by three independent reviewers who did not notice obvious signs of a student’s work. The Minister of Education, Tomáš Drucker, called the situation an unacceptable violation of academic ethics.
Position of the scandal figures
The teachers themselves categorically deny the accusations of intentional plagiarism. Professor Jaroslav Klatík stated that it was an unfortunate and technical mistake.
According to him, the student was indeed initially considered a co-author of the scientific work, but during the final sending of materials to the editors, somehow the wrong file was attached to the letter, in which the girl’s surname was accidentally omitted. The relevant ministry and independent experts continue the investigation to establish all the circumstances of the appearance of someone else’s work in the prestigious scientific collection.
