By CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZE
Published: March 11, 2013
Since Mr. Guttenberg resigned from all of his offices in March 2011, dozens of German politicians have had to give up the right to call themselves doctor. The spate of similar cases has prompted a re-examination of academia, as well as the weight a doctorate pulls in the German job market and society.
Although some top politicians, like Mr. Guttenberg, have lost their cabinet positions, many have managed to remain in the positions they held. In the most recent case, a district judge in Karlsruhe all but ended a European Parliament member’s attempt to regain her doctorate by suing her university. The politician, Silvana Koch-Mehrin, had takenHeidelberg University to court, alleging that it made procedural mistakes when it rescinded her academic badge of honor.
She had lost her doctorate in June 2011, after her thesis was found to show substantial instances of plagiarism. Though she remains in the European Parliament, the “Dr.” — once so conspicuously displayed in front of her name — is now absent from her Web site and campaign literature.
In an oral ruling last Monday, the judge held that any mistake in university procedure was not relevant in the decision to rescind the degree. A formal written decision is expected in the next few weeks.
Ms. Koch-Mehrin’s case came on the heels of the resignation of Education Minster Annette Schavan, who left her post in February after her alma mater, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, rescinded her 33-year-old doctorate. Standing next to her friend, Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ms. Schavan became the second cabinet minister the current German government has lost because of a plagiarized doctorate.
Most of the academic offenses have been found and publicized through VroniPlag Wiki, run by a small group of activists. Universities, after they become aware of an inquiry into a thesis, then conduct their own formal investigations.
“Every uncovered case of plagiarism is a bust for the university,” said Matthias Jaroch, spokesman for the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers.
According to Dr. Jaroch, the recent high-profile cases have contributed to attempts to bring more uniform guidelines to a nation of notoriously independent universities. “It’s on the radar now,” he said.
Some fear that universities are not able to do enough to prevent further embarrassment to their reputations.
“German universities are scared; they know they should be doing something, but they don’t know what,” said Debora Weber-Wulff, a professor at the University for Applied Sciences in Berlin who is also active on VroniPlag Wiki.
“They are running out and buying software,” she said, referring to plagiarism detection programs that are increasingly used by German universities.
Dr. Weber-Wulff, who has become known as an expert on the topic, suggests that one way to prevent plagiarism is to ensure that young doctoral candidates learn properly how to make citations and footnotes in academic papers.
She also blames the fact that many doctoral supervisors often manage too many students to be able to check each one’s work and progress properly.
Another solution might be found not in how the doctorate is administered, but in what the title is perceived to mean in German society.
“People are called Doctor when they go the baker in the morning,” said Dr. Weber-Wulff.
An opposition party in Parliament, the Greens, introduced a bill in December 2011 to remove the academic title from passports and national identification cards, which would have effectively demoted the title from its high perch. The bill was not adopted in a Parliament in which about 18 percent of members hold the title of doctor or professor.
“It’s long overdue,” said Krista Sager, a member of the Greens who referred to the practice of using the doctoral title in social situations as “silly.”
“It’s so uncommon in other countries; it’s completely unheard of in scientifically strong countries like the United States or Great Britain,” said Ms. Sager, who is also pushing for quality control changes in the universities.
Besides the social recognition of holding a doctorate, the title can bring advantages in the job market.
“The German job market recognizes the doctorate even for nonresearch activities,” Stefanie Zimmermann, a German career expert, wrote by e-mail.
Ms. Zimmermann, who is editor in chief of a career magazine published by the Staufenbiel Institute, estimates that in some nonacademic professions a doctorate can raise an annual salary by as much as €10,000, or $13,000.
“In some industries it’s still all about prestige — often the case with lawyers, business consultants and appraisers,” she wrote.
While both academia and politics have suffered an image problem because of the plagiarism scandals, individual doctorates have not lost their value on the German job market, Ms. Zimmermann said.
Besides the cases in Germany, other European countries have also lost prominent politicians to questionable academic titles.
In April 2012, President Pal Schmitt of Hungary resigned from his largely ceremonial post after questions about his doctorate surfaced. Semmelweiss University in Budapest found that his doctoral thesis did not meet its ethical standards, after a 16-page direct copy from a German text was found in the thesis.
Ioan Mang, a computer scientist, was forced to resign as education minister of Romania after allegations that he had plagiarized peer-reviewed academic papers. He stepped down from his post last May.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta of Romania has so far refused to step down, despite accusations that he, too, plagiarized his doctoral thesis.
According to Dr. Weber-Wulff, who studies the history of plagiarism, it is unclear whether the recent profusion of cases had resulted from an increase in plagiarism or in the ability of examiners, or the curious, to find offenses.
Online text repositories like Google Books, she explained, make it easier to track original text.
“We as professors have it much easier finding the plagiarism,” she said.
By CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZE
Published: March 11, 2013
THE HAGUE — The list of German politicians accused of plagiarizing doctoral theses continues to grow, almost two years after the spectacular flameout of one of the country’s most popular politicians at the time, Defense Minister Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg.
Since Mr. Guttenberg resigned from all of his offices in March 2011, dozens of German politicians have had to give up the right to call themselves doctor. The spate of similar cases has prompted a re-examination of academia, as well as the weight a doctorate pulls in the German job market and society.
Although some top politicians, like Mr. Guttenberg, have lost their cabinet positions, many have managed to remain in the positions they held. In the most recent case, a district judge in Karlsruhe all but ended a European Parliament member’s attempt to regain her doctorate by suing her university. The politician, Silvana Koch-Mehrin, had takenHeidelberg University to court, alleging that it made procedural mistakes when it rescinded her academic badge of honor.
She had lost her doctorate in June 2011, after her thesis was found to show substantial instances of plagiarism. Though she remains in the European Parliament, the “Dr.” — once so conspicuously displayed in front of her name — is now absent from her Web site and campaign literature.
In an oral ruling last Monday, the judge held that any mistake in university procedure was not relevant in the decision to rescind the degree. A formal written decision is expected in the next few weeks.
Ms. Koch-Mehrin’s case came on the heels of the resignation of Education Minster Annette Schavan, who left her post in February after her alma mater, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, rescinded her 33-year-old doctorate. Standing next to her friend, Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ms. Schavan became the second cabinet minister the current German government has lost because of a plagiarized doctorate.
Most of the academic offenses have been found and publicized through VroniPlag Wiki, run by a small group of activists. Universities, after they become aware of an inquiry into a thesis, then conduct their own formal investigations.
“Every uncovered case of plagiarism is a bust for the university,” said Matthias Jaroch, spokesman for the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers.
According to Dr. Jaroch, the recent high-profile cases have contributed to attempts to bring more uniform guidelines to a nation of notoriously independent universities. “It’s on the radar now,” he said.
Some fear that universities are not able to do enough to prevent further embarrassment to their reputations.
“German universities are scared; they know they should be doing something, but they don’t know what,” said Debora Weber-Wulff, a professor at the University for Applied Sciences in Berlin who is also active on VroniPlag Wiki.
“They are running out and buying software,” she said, referring to plagiarism detection programs that are increasingly used by German universities.
Dr. Weber-Wulff, who has become known as an expert on the topic, suggests that one way to prevent plagiarism is to ensure that young doctoral candidates learn properly how to make citations and footnotes in academic papers.
She also blames the fact that many doctoral supervisors often manage too many students to be able to check each one’s work and progress properly.
Another solution might be found not in how the doctorate is administered, but in what the title is perceived to mean in German society.
“People are called Doctor when they go the baker in the morning,” said Dr. Weber-Wulff.
An opposition party in Parliament, the Greens, introduced a bill in December 2011 to remove the academic title from passports and national identification cards, which would have effectively demoted the title from its high perch. The bill was not adopted in a Parliament in which about 18 percent of members hold the title of doctor or professor.
“It’s long overdue,” said Krista Sager, a member of the Greens who referred to the practice of using the doctoral title in social situations as “silly.”
“It’s so uncommon in other countries; it’s completely unheard of in scientifically strong countries like the United States or Great Britain,” said Ms. Sager, who is also pushing for quality control changes in the universities.
Besides the social recognition of holding a doctorate, the title can bring advantages in the job market.
“The German job market recognizes the doctorate even for nonresearch activities,” Stefanie Zimmermann, a German career expert, wrote by e-mail.
Ms. Zimmermann, who is editor in chief of a career magazine published by the Staufenbiel Institute, estimates that in some nonacademic professions a doctorate can raise an annual salary by as much as €10,000, or $13,000.
“In some industries it’s still all about prestige — often the case with lawyers, business consultants and appraisers,” she wrote.
While both academia and politics have suffered an image problem because of the plagiarism scandals, individual doctorates have not lost their value on the German job market, Ms. Zimmermann said.
Besides the cases in Germany, other European countries have also lost prominent politicians to questionable academic titles.
In April 2012, President Pal Schmitt of Hungary resigned from his largely ceremonial post after questions about his doctorate surfaced. Semmelweiss University in Budapest found that his doctoral thesis did not meet its ethical standards, after a 16-page direct copy from a German text was found in the thesis.
Ioan Mang, a computer scientist, was forced to resign as education minister of Romania after allegations that he had plagiarized peer-reviewed academic papers. He stepped down from his post last May.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta of Romania has so far refused to step down, despite accusations that he, too, plagiarized his doctoral thesis.
According to Dr. Weber-Wulff, who studies the history of plagiarism, it is unclear whether the recent profusion of cases had resulted from an increase in plagiarism or in the ability of examiners, or the curious, to find offenses.
Online text repositories like Google Books, she explained, make it easier to track original text.
“We as professors have it much easier finding the plagiarism,” she said.
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