Aryabhatta College principal Manoj Sinha has withdrawn at least three books and one journal paper for “review” after complaints of plagiarism have been lodged with the Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University against him.
Five years after first publishing the books by Coimbatore-based Bonfring Publishers and the Journal Global Journal for Multidisciplinary Studies, link to the publications on the websites of both publishers read: “Withdrawn by Author for Revision at 9th August 2019”.
The move comes about a week after The Hindu’s report on a 242-page complaint of plagiarism filed by a whistleblower with the Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University on June 18.
The complaint served through a Supreme Court advocate alleged plagiarism among at least 12 works by Mr. Sinha, including counts of self-plagiarism. The complaint also brings to notice an application by Mr. Sinha to the post of Principal of Hindu College in 2017 in which he claimed “Academic Performance Indicator” or API points. A copy of the same report was also provided to the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) which wrote to the V-C demanding an independent inquiry.
‘Similarity Index’
Out of 12 allegations of plagiarism made by the complainant, at least six instances had been verified after generating Turnitin reports in July which showed a “Similarity Index” between 50-90%. These included the three books and one journal paper, which have been withdrawn. The publications made available in the whistleblower’s complaint were also authenticated with hard copies of the books and soft copies of the paper downloaded from the journal’s website. And the text of the works was compared to the sources of plagiarism for a final check.
Nearly two months since filing of the complaint, it is currently unclear what action has been taken by the university so far. While the V-C was unreachable for comment, sources said a committee has been formed to look into the complaints. The committee's report is awaited.
