Bratislava, Nov. 6, (dpa/GNA) – Slovakia’s parliament passed a law Thursday that will mean anyone found to have plagiarized as part of their degree cannot keep their academic titles – but it will only apply to cases of cheating from next year onwards.
Anyone who has so far plagiarized to obtain their degree in Slovakia may keep their academic title, including politicians.
The new legislation comes after a series of plagiarism scandals involving politicians in recent months, including conservative head of government Igor Matovic, the right-wing populist parliamentary president Boris Kollar and the liberal education minister Branislav Groehling.
Journalist Maria Benedikovicova had used detailed text comparisons in the daily newspaper Dennik N to prove that several of the country’s leading politicians had copied large parts of their theses without correctly citing the sources.
Matovic admitted in July to plagiarizing his university thesis and said he cheated in other papers during his degree.
The revelations, and reactions of the exposed politicians, triggered a storm of indignation. However, motions of censure in parliament were all rejected by the coalition majority.
In response to the bill, the university students’ representatives expressed their satisfaction that, for the first time ever, the possibility to withdraw unjustly acquired degrees exists.
Matovic and the other top politicians should set a good example and voluntarily give back their titles, they said.
GNA