Medical School Professor Who Co-authored Paper
Under Investigation for Possible Misconduct
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] Yonsei University has launched a full investigation to verify whether a medical school professor who co-authored a paper with Han Dong-hoon, Minister of Justice's nephew-in-law, committed research misconduct.
According to the official letter titled 'Preliminary Investigation Result Notification from the Research Ethics and Integrity Committee (Research Ethics Committee)' received by the US-based parent group 'Mijumom' from Yonsei University on the 9th, Yonsei University stated, "The suspicion of research misconduct by Professor A requires a final judgment after an in-depth investigation through a full investigation."
In May, Yonsei University conducted a preliminary investigation after receiving a report from Mijumom regarding suspicions of research misconduct in a co-authored paper by Ms. B, the Minister Han's nephew-in-law, and Professor A from the university's medical school.
Professor A co-authored a medical paper in 2019 with Ms. B, who was attending high school in the United States at the time and is the wife of Minister Han's brother-in-law, which was published in an academic journal. However, this journal received a 'caution' rating from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) Healthy Scholarly Activity Support System. Additionally, suspicions were raised about the reliability of the paper due to graphs and data in the results lacking clear sources.
In response, Mijumom suspects that Ms. B may have used the name of her aunt, a university professor, to submit the paper to the journal to build 'specs' that would help with college admissions.
Yonsei University's Research Ethics Committee's full investigation must be completed within 120 days from the start date. The investigation and judgment are expected to be finalized by December 17.
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