Takming University of Science and Technology has revoked a master’s degree conferred on Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) for improper citations in her master’s thesis that violated academic ethics, the university announced Thursday.
The decision comes after a committee at the university determined that Tsai had committed an academic ethics violation in her master’s thesis, the school said in a statement.
Tsai received her degree from a part-time master’s program at the university’s Management Information System Department in 2019.
On Aug. 12, former Taoyuan City councilor Wang Hao-yu (王浩宇) said on Facebook that he had notified the university that there were improper citations in Tsai’s master’s thesis.
In the statement, the university said that it received an anonymous report on Aug. 13 and Aug. 17 that Tsai’s thesis was extremely similar to an article published by one other person and it immediately formed a seven-member committee to conduct a review.
After holding four meetings, the committee determined there was a violation of academic ethics in Tsai’s thesis and recommended that her master’s degree be revoked, according to the statement.
The recommendation was accepted in the university’s academic affairs meeting held Thursday, it said.
The school emphasized that during the review period, Tsai and other related parties were given the chance to submit written explanations and supporting materials, and they were invited to attend the meetings to fully protect their rights.
According to the school, for decision-making, the committee referred to the definition of plagiarism from the American Association of University Professors as “taking over the ideas, methods, or written words of another, without acknowledgment and with the intention that they be taken as the work of the deceiver.”
It also referred to the definition of plagiarism as stipulated by the Ministry of Education’s regulations for academic ethics management at colleges and universities as “application materials, research materials or research results of other individuals are used without indicating the source. For the sake of plagiarizing, the citation is inappropriate and the circumstances are serious.”
The school said the whistle-blower pointed out 11 sections in Tsai’s thesis without citing the original source and after a review, the committee determined that by not citing sources properly in her master’s thesis, Tsai had committed an academic ethics violation with the intention of passing off the research ideas and findings of others as her own work.
The university said it respected the deliberation result of the committee and if Tsai had any objection to the decision, she could apply for redress.
Later Thursday, Tsai released a statement saying that she respected the decision but complained that the committee did not provide sufficient explanations on how she had committed a violation of academic ethics.
She said she would submit a redress application in accordance with due process of law.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel