A governmental ministry in Bulgaria has concluded a dean at Sofia University is not guilty of plagiarism. But it appears the inquiries might not be complete.
As we reported in December, Milen Zamfirov, dean of the faculty of educational sciences at the university, had been accused of plagiarism in a 2021 paper that “seems to have significant overlap” with two other works. In February, two researchers filed a complaint to the country’s Ministry of Education and Science, alleging Zamfirov plagiarized other works in multiple papers.
The ministry assigned three reviewers to assess the articles in question, all of whom are identified only by initials in its report, released July 9.
The first reviewer determined Zamfirov was guilty of plagiarism and self-plagiarism, according to the document, while the second and third evaluators disagreed.
Hristo Chukurliev, a researcher of foreign languages and cultures at New Bulgarian University in Sofia, confirmed to Retraction Watch he was one of the reviewers of the ministry probe. Chukurliev’s initials indicate he was one of the reviewers who found Zamfirov to be not guilty.
According to a translation of the report, Chukurliev argued there wasn’t sufficient grounds to conclude plagiarism had occurred. He also stated the complaint itself was “contrary to academic practice,” suggesting the complainants should have established if plagiarism had occurred and had external experts confirm it.
“I do not know the content of the other two reviews and cannot comment on any differences,” Chukurliev told us in an email. “I do not know Prof. Zamfirov or the authors of the complaint, and I am not affiliated with the institution they are connected to.”
Chukurliev says he does not know whether the ministry is taking any further steps in Zamfirov’s case.
But when we reached out to Bojidar Angelov, also based at Sofia University, to ask about the case, he told us he couldn’t comment, as an investigation by the ministry’s academic ethics commission “is ongoing.”
In June, a supreme administrative court ruled that the country’s Ministry of Education and Science had terminated multiple plagiarism investigations on incorrect legal grounds, Bulgarian media reported.
Last May, the Ministry of Education and Science honored Zamfirov with a plaque, diploma and a cash prize 8,000 BGN (US $4,300) as part of the agency’s prestigious Pythagoras Science Awards.
Zamfirov has not responded to our request for comment.
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Retraction Watch should themselves check the instances of plagiarism and the accuracy of Ministry’s report.
Scholarly Criticism,
Not surprising on behalf of the Ministry, and not the first time its’ Ethical Committee disregards objectively verifiable claims from sources, available online.
It was easy enough for me, as a native Bulgarian speaker, to see that Zamfirov is presented on SU’s webiste as a BSc in “Physics” from SWU in Blagoevgrad, yet the Pauli-Jung article somehow mistakes Newtonian physics for Einstein’s theory of relativity.
As for other works by Zamfirov, some of the 10 papers, used for his appointment as a professor in FESA, for instance, I won’t comment on the absence of quotation marks, footnotes, indents, the lack of any explanation what is a translated quotation from another source vs. what is written by Zamfirov… or at least, all those recycled excerpts without any acknowledging footnote (i.e. self-plagiarism).
https://www.uni-sofia.bg/index.php/bul/universitet_t/fakulteti/fakultet_po_nauki_za_obrazovanieto_i_izkustvata/proceduri_za_nauchni_stepeni_i_akademichni_dl_zhnosti/proceduri_po_zaemane_na_akademichni_dl_zhnosti/fakultet_po_nauki_za_obrazovanieto_i_izkustvata_arhiv_konkursi/konkurs_za_zaemane_na_akademichnata_dl_zhnost_profesor_po_profesionalno_napravlenie_1_2_pedagogika_specialna_pedagogika_obyaven_v_dv_br_48_26_05_2020_g
Perhaps Chukurliev didn’t wear his glasses, but somehow managed to “give a personal opinion” in a formal Ministry report that an investigation on Zamfirov is in a violation of the ethical framework.
Sorry for the long comment…