Jinsook Lee Faces Allegations of "Salami Slicing" and Appropriation of Student Thesis

35% Similarity Found in KCI Check
Plagiarism Suspected When Rate Exceeds 25%
Copykiller Also Shows 37% and 48% Plagiarism Rates
Kim Minjeon: "Allegations Will Be Thoroughly Examined at the Confirmation Hearing"

Lee Jinsuk, candidate for Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, arrived at the confirmation hearing preparation office set up at the Korea Educational Facilities Safety Institute in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 30th of last month and responded to questions from the press. Photo by Yoon Dongju

Jinsook Lee, nominee for Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, is facing controversy over so-called "salami slicing" of research papers, as it has been reported that, during her tenure as a professor at Chungnam National University in 2018, she published two papers with similar experimental designs and conclusions in different academic journals. Furthermore, suspicions have been raised that these two papers are virtually identical to a thesis published by a graduate student she supervised in the same year, leading to allegations that she may have appropriated her student's work.

On July 4, the office of Kim Minjeon, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the People Power Party, announced that Lee had published a paper titled "A Study on the Evaluation of Fatigue According to Changes in Lighting Area and Illuminance" in the Journal of the Korean Society of Color Studies in February 2018. One month later, she published another paper, "A Study on the Evaluation of Discomfort Glare According to Changes in Lighting Area and Illuminance," in the Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers.

The issue is that, according to the Korea Citation Index (KCI) literature similarity check, the overall similarity between the two papers was found to be 35%. In academia, a similarity rate of 25% or higher in such checks is generally considered a threshold at which the possibility of plagiarism should be further investigated.

According to the analysis by Kim's office, numerous identical sentences were found in the experimental design, participant conditions, and conclusions of the two papers. For example, both papers state in the experimental section, "The average illuminance of the space was measured using a high-precision illuminance meter (T10, Minolta) according to the KS 5-point method, and measurements were taken at a height of 80±5cm from the floor."

Both papers also share the following conclusion: "When the lighting conditions remain unchanged, the index grade generally falls within the acceptable range in cases where the luminance ratio between background and light source is low, or in high-area, low-illuminance settings."

Lee Jinsuk, candidate for Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, arrived at the confirmation hearing preparation office set up at the Korea Educational Facilities Safety Institute in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 30th of last month and responded to questions from the press. Photo by Yoon Dongju

However, neither paper contains any reference or citation to the other. Some in the academic community have pointed out that this practice constitutes so-called "salami slicing" and may be considered duplicate publication under the Ministry of Education's research ethics guidelines.

Furthermore, it has been found that these two papers are also similar to a thesis published about a month later by a graduate student supervised by Lee. In April 2018, graduate student A, under Lee's supervision, submitted a doctoral dissertation titled "A Study on Discomfort Glare Design Indicators According to Changes in System Lighting" to the Graduate School of Chungnam National University and received a doctorate in August of that year. Lee was listed as the dissertation advisor.

According to the analysis by Kim's office, a significant portion of A's dissertation was identical to the two previous papers by Lee. In Lee's research, the experimental environment was described as "a darkroom measuring 3250 x 5080 x 2700 mm," while in A's dissertation, it was described as "a darkroom measuring 3250 x 5080 x 2500 mm." For the research variable, Lee used the term "low area," while A used "small area."

When A's dissertation and Lee's two papers were compared using the plagiarism detection program "Copykiller," the plagiarism rates were found to be 37% and 48%, respectively.

Some have raised suspicions that Lee may have preemptively published her student's thesis in other journals before the student did. There are also allegations that, during her time as a professor, Lee summarized her students' theses and published them in academic journals on multiple occasions.

It has been claimed that, when comparing papers for which Lee was the first author since 2000 with master's and doctoral theses by graduate students she supervised during the same period, evidence of plagiarism from student theses was found in more than 10 papers.

Meanwhile, the National Academic Verification Committee has begun an investigation into the allegations of duplicate publication and plagiarism of student theses by Lee. The results of the investigation are expected to be announced after Lee's confirmation hearing, which is scheduled for the middle of this month.

Regarding this matter, the Ministry of Education's confirmation hearing preparation team stated, "The papers authored by the nominee between 2007 and 2019 were officially confirmed as 'free of research misconduct' by a research ethics review committee composed of experts at the time of the Chungnam National University presidential appointment," and added, "The nominee intends to address all allegations related to the papers thoroughly during the confirmation hearing process."

Kim Minjeon stated, "Violations of research ethics are a serious disqualification," and added, "We will thoroughly examine these allegations during the confirmation hearing."