The rector of Mariupol State University and the newly appointed Deputy Minister of Education Mykola Trofymenko have been accused of academic plagiarism. The analysis of both dissertations has been published on the website "Plagiarism and Falsification in Scientific Works," said anti-plagiarist Oleg Smirnov. According to him, two complaints have already been filed with the National Agency for the Protection of Higher Education and Science.
This is a candidate thesis "Anti-globalization movement and Ukraine: political analysis", defended in 2011 at the Institute of Political and Ethno-National Studies named after I. F. Kuras of the NAS of Ukraine. Analysts claim that there are borrowings on 27 pages (about 19% of the main text), a significant part of which comes from Russian publications. According to the reviewers, the author allegedly copied ready-made analytical materials of Russian authors, who, in turn, retold the works of Western researchers.
Similar claims were made against the doctoral dissertation "Public Diplomacy in the Context of Globalization", defended on May 8, 2024 at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. According to analysts, it identified 33 pages of possible plagiarism (about 9% of the main text), and also drew attention to "forgeries" and double references.
As of now, no official reaction from the NAZAVO or Mykola Trofymenko himself has been made public. The decision on the existence of violations of academic integrity will be made by the NAZAVO based on the results of the review of the complaints.
