EJ Insight » Hong KongToday, 12:33 PM
Herdip Singh (inset) refused to comment on the issue when confronted by an Apple Daily reporter. Photos: HKEJ, Lingnan University
A senior official of Lingnan University is under suspicion of plagiarism concerning his doctoral thesis.
Herdip Singh, associate vice president and comptroller at the university, submitted the dissertation for a doctoral degree in business administration at the Tarlac State University in the Philippines in 2013, Apple Daily reported.
It was found that much of the content of Singh’s work, including the choice of words, is very similar to that of a thesis for a master’s degree in business administration submitted to Lund University, of Sweden, by Chinese student Wu Chunshui in 2010.
Singh’s 102-page dissertation, titled Corporate Governance in the China Region: Implication to Business Management, analyzes the corporate governance models of companies in Hong Kong and mainland China.
Some of the content of Sing’s thesis appears to have been copied verbatim from Wu’s work.
The Apple Daily reporter revealed that Wu’s thesis was returned when a search on Google using content from Singh’s work was entered. No credit was given Wu’s work, the report said.
Singh’s work was subsequently handed to Matts Kärreman, Wu’s instructor and a senior lecturer at the Department of Business Administration at Lund University.
Kärreman confirmed that Wu was a student at the university and that Singh’s work was very similar to Wu’s.
Kärreman said he was “quite sure it is a case of plagiarism”.
He examined Singh’s thesis using Lund University’s plagiarism detection software and the result was that the two manuscripts were 96 percent the same.
“Disturbing similarities” were also found between Singh’s piece and other people’s work, Kärreman said.
When approached by the Apple Daily reporter on the Lingnan University campus on Monday, Singh refused to comment on the matter and asked security guards to bar reporters from the school grounds.
Tarlac State University president Dr. Myrna Q. Mallari said she had no information about the issue, but added that an investigation would be conducted if a complaint was filed.
A Lingnan University spokesperson said the institution would not comment on the case but actions will be taken if any of its staff is found to have violated disciplinary rules.
Sweden’s Lund University is ranked 90th on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and 90th on the QS World University Rankings.
Tarlac State University does not have a ranking on both lists.
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