Allegations of Salami Slicing and Self-Plagiarism
Korea University has launched an investigation into the dissertation of Yoo Dam (31), daughter of former lawmaker Yoo Seungmin, who was appointed as a professor at Incheon National University.
According to Korea University on December 29, the university's Research Integrity Committee has decided to investigate allegations of research misconduct related to Yoo's doctoral dissertation and other works. The main investigation committee, which will include more than 50% external members, is expected to be formed soon.
In 2017, Yoo Seungmin, the presidential candidate of the Bareun Party, was campaigning at the intersection in front of Konkuk University in Seoul, introducing his daughter Yudam. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
The Ministry of Education received a report of research misconduct concerning Yoo through the public petition system and forwarded it to Korea University. Initially, Korea University requested additional evidence, citing a lack of specific grounds, but the investigation proceeded after the whistleblower submitted supplementary materials.
Yoo, who graduated from the Department of Law at Dongguk University, earned a master's degree in business administration from Yonsei University and a doctorate in business administration from Korea University. According to the office of Assemblywoman Jin Sunmi of the Democratic Party of Korea, Yoo submitted ten research papers as her academic achievements when applying for a professorship at Incheon National University in May. Among the ten papers was her doctoral dissertation submitted to Korea University.
Between August last year and January this year, Yoo published seven papers over a five-month period and obtained her doctorate in February this year. This led to suspicions that she excessively divided a single research project into multiple papers, as the research topics, data, and analytical frameworks were similar. Additionally, concerns about self-plagiarism arose, as her 2019 master's thesis and a 2020 KCI journal article showed a similarity rate of 29%.
Yoo's appointment process was also discussed during last year's National Assembly Education Committee audit. Assemblywoman Jin and others raised suspicions of preferential treatment, noting that Yoo's appointment was unusually rapid given her short career. There were also allegations of "salami slicing," as several of the papers Yoo submitted for her Incheon National University appointment were essentially based on the same research.
At the time, Assemblywoman Jin stated during the Incheon National University audit, "Many have raised objections to the appointment of 31-year-old Professor Yoo Dam as a professor in the Department of Trade at Incheon National University," adding, "(Professor Yoo) ranked around 16th in the qualitative review of papers with a score of 18.6, but received perfect scores in academic background, career, and quantitative review of papers, passing the first review in second place overall."
In response, Incheon National University stated during the audit that the review process was conducted fairly in accordance with internal guidelines and procedures.
Meanwhile, Yoo has passed the recruitment for full-time faculty for the second semester of the 2025 academic year at Incheon National University and is currently teaching courses such as International Marketing and International Business in the Department of Trade.
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