A committee in Ohio University's Russ College of Engineering has confirmed more than 20 plagiarized master's theses after an investigation.
Investigators confirmed that 21 theses contained material copied from published literature, including books, journals and periodicals, according to the final report. The report was released Friday by the Academic Honesty Oversight Committee, which was formed by the College of Engineering in light of the investigation.
The authors of these theses must respond in writing to the committee within three months and the author will have nine months to rewrite the thesis. All plagiarized theses will be removed from university libraries, according to the report.
If the author does not rewrite the thesis in that nine-month period and the plagiarism charges have not been lifted, the thesis will be permanently removed from the library and the committee will recommend that the author's degree be revoked, according to the report.
In a previous interview, College of Engineering Dean Dennis Irwin said that he would follow the recommendations of the committee. But in a personal e-mail received Friday, Irwin wrote that he might take actions more serious than those recommended. Irwin said in previous interviews that he would not be opposed to revoking degrees.
The committee investigated 46 theses spanning about 20 years.
The report also found 16 cases where students collaborated on their work but failed to mention that in their theses. Those theses will be removed from the library and those students might need to rewrite their theses so that their citations reflect what, if any, work was done with other students.
In previous interviews, Irwin mentioned that part of the investigation would look into the actions of faculty members who were advisors of these students. However, the report didn't include any information about any faculty members.
The investigation began when former OU graduate student Tom Matrka found examples of plagiarism when he was doing research for his thesis in 2004. Matrka said he recently turned over about 30 examples of plagiarism he found to university officials.
Matrka said he is not satisfied with the results of the investigation.
The whole thing is a joke
said Matrka, 40, who is working for a chemical company in McArthur and graduated in 2005. They are catering to the plagiarists.
At a Friday meeting, the committee also examined four previously investigated cases. The committee found that the students all had copied a document that had been co-authored by all four of them, and it was determined that plagiarism had not been committed. Because the authors didn't correctly cite the document, all four theses will be modified so that they cite the document properly.
While Matrka said he felt justice had not been served, he said he was especially upset that those four cases were dismissed.
I hate that I am always sour grapesG?but I think they still have more work to do Matrka said.
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Janet Nester
College of Engineering investigation finds 21 cases
