The saga surrounding the plagiarism investigation of Professor Dobri Yankov, rector of Trakia University (TrU) in Stara Zagora, has come to a close.
What do you think — did the Academic Ethics Commission (AEC) pronounce a verdict and revoke his academic title of “professor”? Such a result was expected by all the naive individuals familiar with this case. However, scholars from academic circles in Bulgaria, especially those from TrU, did not harbor such hopes at all. And as it became clear, they were fully justified. Because in the end, it turned out that on November 12 of last year,
the commission, subordinate to the education minister, decided to terminate the plagiarism investigation against Professor Yankov on the grounds that the legally established deadline for drafting a report on the incoming signal had expired.
This fact circulated as a rumor in the corridors of the ministry and Trakia University even before Associate Professor Lazarin Lazarov — the author of the plagiarism signal against Professor Yankov — received a copy of the official response from the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES) to the chief secretary of the Ombudsman regarding the case. It stated that after the appointed investigation, the Academic Ethics Commission reviewed all the documentation attached to the signal and decided to proceed with the selection of three arbitrators. These were appointed by October 22 of last year, although by that date, the 14-day period stipulated by the legislator had already expired. Here it is important to clarify that according to the provision of Article 30, Paragraph 8 of the Academic Staff Development Act, it is the
Academic Ethics Commission that determines at least three arbitrators for the specific procedure, and it itself has exceeded the designated time for their selection.
According to the MoES response to the National Ombudsman, “on November 12 of last year, at a meeting of the AEC, its members decided to suspend the substantive investigations on signals that were beyond the legally established deadlines for drafting a report by them. This includes the signal from Associate Professor Lazarov, submitted on September 5 of last year.” (Associate Professor Lazarin Lazarov is a former dean of the Veterinary Medicine Faculty at TrU, who was dismissed disciplinarily by the rector on July 19 of last year. The district court in Stara Zagora annulled Professor Yankov’s order, and he appealed the decision to the regional court.)
From this entirely formal institutional response, several noteworthy questions arise, which Associate Professor Lazarov poses to Minister Krasimir Valchev in an open letter to him, circulated to the media on March 19 but not published in any.
Among all the questions, the following stand out as the most important:
- On what date did the minister order the Academic Ethics Commission to investigate the plagiarism allegation once it was declared admissible?
- On what date did the procedure for selecting arbitrators begin, and after the Commission itself exceeded the deadline set by the law, did Minister Valchev hold its chair, Professor Snezhana Pleshkova-Bekyarska, accountable? And were any sanctions imposed?
- When did the appointed arbitrators begin their work on verifying the plagiarism data in the allegation, and during these 20 days, did they submit their reports to the Commission?
- How many other investigations, aside from the one involving Professor Yankov, were halted as a result of the AEC’s decision on November 12 of last year?
Minister Valchev is obliged to answer these questions because, otherwise, the scientific community, and not only they, will continue to believe that as a deputy from the Stara Zagora electoral district in several parliaments, he indeed protected the rector of TrU and gave silent consent for the plagiarism investigation to be terminated.
This practice of shielding plagiarists in our academic circles has proven to be more widespread and resilient than society ever anticipated. It corrupts the scientific community and sends a bad signal that anyone can build a career by stealing others’ scientific works or parts of them.
According to Associate Professor Lazarov, the tolerance for vulgarity and mediocrity is on the verge of killing the few remaining virtues of our educational system.
“If we lose the awakeners, we lose everything!” concludes the former dean from Trakia University in his Open Letter to Krasimir Valchev.
Postscript
“Za istinata” (“For the truth”) has written several times on this subject, not only about Professor Yankov’s plagiarism but also about his authoritarian management style, abuse of power, and more. If I had the right to file a lawsuit against the Minister of Education on this case, I would do so. However, since the law does not allow me to, I can only ask publicly, aren’t you ashamed of yourself, Mr. Minister?
