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With the new opinion on the possible plagiarism of textbooks on International Economics in the Belgrade Faculty of Economics, which was expressed these days by the Ethics Commission of that institution, the matter that has been shaking this institution of higher education, member of the University of Belgrade (UB). The Ethics Commission confirmed what the Interuniversity Expert Commission had assessed on two previous occasions, that the local prof. Dr. Danica Popović, in the supplemented edition of the International Economics textbook translation, took up to 150 pages from the earlier version of that scholarly book whose translator is the late Professor Dr. Stojan Babić. The ethics commission did not explicitly state in the report that Popović plagiarized the work, but noted that prof. Dr. Danica Popović behaved in a non-academic manner when translating an International Economics textbook, written by Dominique Salvatore, published in 2018.
The members of the commission consider that, taking into account the seriousness of the violation of the Code of Professional Ethics, as well as the damage caused to the reputation of the faculty, as a more appropriate measure, Prof. Dr. Danica Popović should have received a public reprimand. They claim that it would help prevent such and similar code violations in the future.
– By imposing the aforementioned measures, the faculty, that is, the members of the academic community, unconditionally distance themselves from morally unacceptable conduct and send a message to the general public that such conduct is inappropriate for members of the academic community – it is stated literally in the opinion of the commission. Dr. Ivan Vujačić and members prof. Dr. Milojko Arsić, Dr. Zorica Aničić, Luka Čvorović and Živana Miletić.
These “Politika” accusations were confirmed by prof. Dr. Branislav Boricic, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, but also pointed out that the decision is made by the members of the Teaching-Scientific Council, which will meet tomorrow.
– The Ethics Commission was of the opinion that Professor Popović’s behavior in translating International Economics textbooks was not academic and proposed that she be given a public reprimand. In the end, I, as dean, pronounce such a measure, but the decision remains in the hands of the Teaching-Scientific Council, after which I have a legal period of 15 days to finally rule – Boricic explained.
The procedure to determine Professor Popović’s non-academic behavior was initiated at the request of former EKOF student Aleksandar Jakšić. He sent his request to the Faculty Ethics Commission. Subsequently, the Teaching-Scientific Council decided to form a Commission of Experts for this case, made up of experts from international economics, two professors from the Faculty of Economics, one from the Faculty of Political Sciences and one from the Nis Faculty of Economics. A few months ago, the expert committee, with the help of plagiarism detection software, concluded that prof. Dr. Danica Popović in the new edition of the book of International Economics, of 11 debatable chapters, on average “borrowed” 43 percent of the text of the translation of the now deceased colleague, which is the 150 pages already mentioned. Everything dragged on for a while because then the Ethics Commission asked the Expert to specify whether it was plagiarism. The expert commission then informed Ethic on July 27 that it was behind its conclusion and that their task was to verify the originality of the work, which they did.
When asked to comment on the latest opinion of the Ethics Commission and say if he expects a public reprimand, prof. Dr. Danica Popović responded by “Politika”:
“The lies of ‘Kurir’ and Aleksandar Jaksic were timed this time in order to intimidate the Teaching-Scientific Council of the Faculty of Economics, which will decide on the report of the Ethics Commission this Wednesday. So far, all his false accusations have been rejected, starting with that of selling the exams, so Jaksic was eventually withdrawn from the faculty. It amazes me that ‘Politika’ always omits this fact. “
On September 24, student Aleksandar Jakšić, with a grade of ten, defended his master’s degree at EKOF and yesterday presented a certificate to our editorial staff confirming that, as well as the fact that he was not removed from the faculty. It highlights that the Ethics Commission confirmed Danica Popović’s non-academic conduct, based on his request that referred to the violation of article 22 of the UB Code of Professional Ethics, which defines plagiarism.
– The expert commission has unequivocally determined the lack of originality of Professor Popović’s automatic work. She explicitly stated in her report that the two translations are identical even when the original textbooks are different. Additionally, plagiarism detection software identified the existence of plagiarism on more than 150 pages. This means that Professor Popović took over the author’s work from Professor Babić, four months after his death, and presented it as her own work. This ends this story. I hope that the rector of the UB will be consistent and will present an appeal, if the decision of the faculty is not a public condemnation – says Jaksic.
Yesterday the Academic Solidarity and Commitment Network was announced, made up of about 500 academics who commented on the whole case and, among other things, called on their colleagues not to be the object of investigation and condemnation by university bodies for actions outside their academic work and academic work. Titles
Rector of the UB: The decision is in the Faculty of Economics
Prof. Dr. Ivanka Popović, Rector of the UB, pointed out for our work yesterday that she still does not have information on the decision of the Ethics Commission and that she is waiting for them because she knows that the Teaching-Scientific Council of the Faculty of Economics should meet soon.
– As far as that is concerned, now everything is in the university. I hope you tell me what they decided in the Teaching-Scientific Council – Popović explained briefly.
Regardless of this case, he clarified that there must be measures such as reprimands and public sentences to preserve academic integrity, but that “they must be pronounced with care so that they do not serve for personal confrontations.”
In circles close to the university leadership, they explain that the public reprimand entails the loss of the opportunity to reach managerial positions in the faculty or university, and that the public condemnation entails the deprivation of the academic title of professor.
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