[2020 National Audit] Most Cases of Fraudulent Papers Involving National University Professors' Children and Co-authors Found at Seoul National University

34 Cases of Misconduct Among 458 Reviews
Seoul National University Leads with 21 Cases
Seodongyong: "Legal Revision Needed to Maintain Disciplinary Statute of Limitations"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] An investigation into the research integrity of papers co-authored by minor children of national university professors revealed that out of 458 papers examined, 34 cases of research misconduct were identified. Seoul National University had the highest number of misconduct cases among national universities, with 21 out of 65 papers under review being found guilty of research misconduct.

On the 22nd, Seo Dong-yong, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, analyzed data titled 'Verification Progress of Papers by Professors' Minor Children and Minor Co-authors' submitted by 37 national universities nationwide. The analysis showed that from December 2017 to the present, 26 universities confirmed papers involving minor children and co-authors. The number of minor children of professors included in the papers was 92, and the number of minor co-authors was 1,178.

The verification results showed that out of a total of 458 papers, 300 have been fully reviewed, with 34 papers confirmed to have violations. Including re-verifications, 158 papers are still under review, so the number of misconduct cases may increase.

Assemblyman Seo pointed out that although the Ministry of Education is conducting this investigation at all universities, the process is taking too long. He stated, "In some cases, verification was practically impossible due to various reasons such as the faculty member having already retired from the institution, residing overseas, being unreachable, or deceased."

In the case of Seoul National University, 21 cases of research misconduct were confirmed, but the post-investigation measures taken so far were limited to 18 warnings and 1 caution. The remaining two cases involved individuals who had already moved to other universities, and only notification of the findings was sent to their affiliated institutions. Assemblyman Seo emphasized, "There is a need to amend the law to extend the statute of limitations for disciplinary actions or to maintain the statute of limitations until damage caused by research misconduct occurs."