Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology to Pursue Legal Action Against Fake Research Perpetrators in Denmark to Create Deterrent Effect
The Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Brian Yuliarto, will pursue legal action against perpetrators of fake research presented at an international conference to ensure a deterrent effect. “We are currently continuously collecting data to determine the legal processes we can take against the suspected perpetrators. We believe that without legal action, there will be no deterrent effect,” Brian stated during a meeting with Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Brian has formed an investigation team to look into the fraudulent research, led by the Acting Inspector General of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Nur Syarifah. The Minister has also coordinated with Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (UNY), as one of the suspects is an alumnus of the university.
Findings from the investigation team so far indicate that one suspect, who holds an affiliation as a lecturer or researcher at an Indonesian campus, is involved in the research forgery. Brian explained that while the ministry can impose sanctions such as dismissal through ethics and disciplinary committees for lecturers, it lacks the authority to sanction individuals who do not have formal affiliations with higher education institutions.
Furthermore, the ministry has discovered allegations of the unauthorised use of university names, which Brian categorised as fraud. “They are using and misappropriating the names of universities without permission, which constitutes fraud. We will continue to coordinate on this matter,” he said.
It was previously reported that the alleged research forgery at an international conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, involved the names of prominent state universities, namely Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (UNY) and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). The suspects include a woman identified by the initials P, and another UNY alumnus, RF. Both universities have confirmed that the individuals are indeed in their databases, though they are still verifying the specific identities involved.