Committee fails to adopt conclusions on alleged plagiarism

Committee fails to adopt conclusions on alleged plagiarism

The proposed conclusions relate to improving the standards of evaluating the quality and authenticity of scientific papers, an initiative to amend the penal code with provisions envisioning punishment for those involved in plagiarism of scientific papers, as well as to amendments to other laws envisioning the consequences to be faced by plagiarists.

As the fourth conclusion, it was proposed that the Ministry of Education and Science compile a register of doctoral theses by the end of this year, as well as an online electronic database and a database of scientific researchers and papers.

Representatives of the Serb Progressive Party (SNS) which leads the Serbian governing coalition, said during the debate that the scandal over alleged plagiarism in Stefanović's doctoral thesis was "a political attack against the minister - who is also one of the party's deputy leaders - and the Serbian government, aimed at stopping the changes in the country, in particular in the police."