Vietnam - Vietnam scientists deny penning plagiarized papers

Three of the five scientists whose joint articles on astrophysics have been retracted for plagiarism vehemently deny co-authorship, saying they have simply fallen victim to the infamous Le Duc Thong who added their names without their consent.

Noticeably, one of the complainants is Thong’s wife.

Dr Nguyen Mong Giao, vice president of HCMC-based Hung Vuong University who once helped the researcher Thong secure a job at the HCMC Institute of Physics, told Tuoi Tre on Monday that Thong had submitted two articles without his knowledge but with his name on them to two journals, Physics Letters B and EPL.

The papers are Search for Cosmological Time Variation of the Fine-Structure Constant Using Low-Redshifts of Quasar and Was the Fine-Structure Constant Variable over Cosmological Time?

Thong had sent another article to one more journal with Dr. Giao as co-author without his approval, the vice president added. Giao said he has asked the journal to remove his name from the article - which so far has not been withdrawn - but failed.

“Thong was never serious about doing scientific research despite advice and even warning from his seniors”, Dr Giao said, adding the young man even used the doctor’s email to contact experts and journals for “his own personal purposes.”

Wife says it all

Even Thong’s own wife - Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, a physicist from the Hanoi University of Science - denied co-authoring the four retracted papers, which are Strong Limit on Δα/α from the Analysis of Fe II Absorption Line Multiplets, Studying Cosmological Time Variability of the Fine-Structure Constant from the Analysis of Quasar Spectra, New Test for Cosmological Time Variation of the Fine-Structure Constant from the Analysis of Quasar Spectra, and Search for Time Variation of the Fine-Structure Constant Using [OIII] Emission Lines.

Another scientist from the university, Prof Ha Huy Bang, similarly denied involvement.

Both asserted the 31-year-old researcher had merely included them as co-authors without their consent.

The remaining two, including Dr Tran Van Hung, of the HCMC-based Research and Development Center for Radiation Technology, and Dr Nguyen The Hung, working at the Hanoi Institute of Physics, have yet to give any response to Tuoi Tre regarding this plagiarism case.

In the meantime, Dr Hoang Dung, of the Vietnam National University – HCMC, said he was surprised at the three aforementioned physicists’ denial, elaborating it is a common practice that international journals try to seek co-authors’ agreement before publishing any papers.

Dr Lam Quang Vinh, from the HCMC University of Science, further explained journals would normally require co-authors’ written approval before releasing joint works.

Le Duc Thong has shocked Vietnamese academia by having seven papers retracted by six international journals on account of plagiarism in the last two years.

In 2010, Thong quit his job at the HCMC Institute of Physics upon its request, following the organization’s reception of notifications of his plagiarism from the international journals.

TUOI TRE

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