03.06.2013 19:11

Having studied the dissertation of the first deputy head of the administration of the governor of the Sverdlovsk region, Alexey Bagaryakov, defended in 2006, Znak.com came to the conclusion that a significant part of this work is not independent and can be considered plagiarism.

Alexey Bagaryakov became a candidate of economic sciences, having defended his dissertation on the topic “Improving the mechanism of investment policy in the region” on June 1, 2006 at the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation. The scientific supervisor of the work was Academy Professor Sergei Raevsky. At that time, Alexey Bagaryakov was not yet an official, but a businessman - co-owner of the Ural UIK Bank. On this occasion, the bank issued a press release :

“The topic of the dissertation was not chosen by chance. Investment projects constitute one of the main areas of business handled by A.V. Bagaryakov. Considerable experience in investing and excellent knowledge of the peculiarities of the Russian economy allowed him, according to reviews from members of the selection committee, to brilliantly defend his scientific work. The defense took place in Moscow, at the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation and was accepted unanimously. It should be noted that in 27 regional banks of the Sverdlovsk region, according to some data, no more than 5 people heading the board of directors have an academic degree. Science and business are a difficult combination: both require maximum impact. Few are capable of this."

Analyzing the dissertation, Znak.com took advantage of the help of the Dissernet community, whose members, on a voluntary basis, work to verify the scientific works of Russian officials, politicians and businessmen. Thanks to cooperation with Dissernet, we were able to find out that Bagaryakov’s work contains a number of incorrect borrowings.

According to Dissernet rules, plagiarism is considered confirmed if it is a large-scale citation of earlier scientific works that is not properly formatted. For Alexey Bagaryakov, the work that was “cheated off” was the dissertation of Alexander Georgievich Tretyakov, defended in the same year, “Management of investment activity in the region.” The scientific supervisor of this work was the same professor Sergei Raevsky, it was defended at the same Academy of Public Administration, but a little earlier - in March 2006.

An analysis of the two works showed that approximately 36 pages of the theoretical part of the work of Alexei Bagaryakov copy the work of Alexander Tretyakov without referring to it. In some places the copying is total; multi-page fragments of text are completely duplicated.

Let's give a few examples.

Already in the introduction, the similarities between the two works are noticeable (hereinafter, screenshots can be enlarged by clicking on them).

The object and subject of the study, the section “theoretical basis and methods” are presented almost word for word:

The list of scientific works of predecessors looks just as identical. Theoretically, such a coincidence is understandable (it is clear that dissertators writing on the same topic rely on similar works), but the repetition of the text comma to comma confirms the suspicion of plagiarism:

It is difficult to imagine that two dissertation candidates defending work, even on similar topics, would formulate their thoughts so similarly. It is easier to assume that both were provided with significant assistance in writing the text of the dissertation by a supervisor who, for example, could use the texts of his own scientific works. However, it is difficult to formally make a claim against a scientific director, but it is possible to file a claim against the dissertation candidate Bagaryakov. Moreover, further borrowings cease to be partial and begin to have a “carpet” character.

The paragraph “Features of the formation and implementation of investment policy in Russia in the regions of Russia” in Bagaryakov’s dissertation completely copies the paragraph “Features of the development of the investment process in the regions of Russia” by Tretyakov.

And then the same - about a dozen pages.

The same goes for the paragraph “Formation of a favorable investment climate in the region” (Bagaryakov), which is almost completely copied from the section “Investment climate in the region: essence and assessment” (Tretyakov).

For many pages the text of the two dissertations coincides almost completely. “Miraculously,” two dissertation candidates were even able to draw exactly the same diagrams:

And so on. You can independently study the similarities between two dissertations by using this Dissernet table or by independently downloading the texts of two works: Tretyakov and Bagaryakov .

When studying Bagaryakov’s dissertation, we noticed that it also overlaps with later works written under the scientific supervision of Sergei Raevsky (for example, with the work of V.V. Sablin “Organization of investment activity in the region”). Thus, just as Bagaryakov’s work partly turned out to be the fruit of plagiarism, so in the future it itself was used as a source by other plagiarists.

All this leads to a simple hypothesis: in fact, neither Bagaryakov nor many other dissertation candidates of Professor Raevsky were really engaged in their scientific work; instead, the texts were prepared for them under certain conditions, based on the works of Professor Raevsky himself. This can explain the coincidence of fragments of texts among different dissertations of the professor. Presumably, all non-author fragments may be parts of the book by Sergei Raevsky himself, “Investment Activity in the Region.” Unfortunately, we were unable to find the text of this book for verification.

However, we were able to contact Sergei Raevsky himself to discuss with him the quality of the work of his dissertation student Alexei Bagaryakov. We present the text of the conversation verbatim.

Corr.: Hello. I would like to chat about the work of one of your dissertation students. This is Alexey Bagaryakov, he defended himself with you in 2006.

Raevsky S.V.: Yes, yes, there was one. What's the problem?

Corr.: We began to study his dissertation and found in it borrowings from an earlier dissertation of your other dissertation student named Tretyakov. Tretyakov Alexander Georgievich. He also defended himself in 2006, but a little earlier. Why did we start doing this? Now Alexey Vladimirovich holds a government post in the Sverdlovsk region, and we check the dissertations of officials on a topic known to you. So, we found borrowings from Tretyakov’s dissertation, approximately 30-40 pages, on which there are significant borrowings.

Raevsky S.V.: Some theoretical points, apparently.

Corr.: Yes, mostly. Borrowings, from my point of view, are incorrect: without references, without mentioning the source. Tretyakov's dissertation is also not listed in the list of references.

Raevsky S.V.: Oh, yes, probably, yes, probably this moment, links to the dissertation, to Tretyakov’s abstract, should have been there. This is probably some kind of technical error.

Corr.: So Bagaryakov used Tretyakov’s dissertation when preparing his own?

Raevsky S.V.: I’m not ready, I’m not ready to tell you anything on this topic. They have a slightly similar focus: investment in one place, investment in another place.

Corr.: Yes, they are very similar.

Raevsky S.V.: But there are different conclusions and different final results of these studies. It is possible that this point is here... Usually there should be links to dissertations with related topics. The element that the author knows related works must be present. But I’m not ready to comment on this matter.

Corr.: But in general, do you consider the work independent?

Raevsky S.V.: Alexey Vladimirovich showed himself to be a very competent person, versed in many issues of practical management at the level of investment resources in the region. When we were in contact with him and preparing, it was very easy for me. At the final stage of preparing for a defense, any graduate student consults with a supervisor: how best to respond, as they say, comments, reviews... And I remembered that he literally understood all these things on the fly, and I supported all the proposals for answer options to the reviews of opponents, the leading organization which he offered. He always formulated things very precisely, it was easy for me. I was just clarifying some nuances.

Corr.: How often did you meet while preparing the work?

Raevsky S.V.: Often. I have the most pleasant impressions and memories of our meetings. Naturally, consultations were about the work plan, the progress of the research, they were also in the final stage, I advised how best to answer... Why do you need this? What would you like?

Corr.: Why? I want to write a note about this: to say that we have found such borrowings. We haven’t talked to Bagaryakov himself yet, I’ll definitely ask him how this happened.

Raevsky S.V.: Why do you need this?

Corr.: In what sense?

Raevsky S.V.: Do you want to harm Alexey?

Corr.: I don't want to harm him. I want to ask him how independent and authentic his dissertation is.

Raevsky S.V.: It is independent.

Corr.: I heard this opinion, thank you, I will definitely reflect it in the article. I will also reflect his opinion. But I will also point out that part of the dissertation...

Raevsky S.V.: Why do you need this? Seven years have passed. Why You Need It? Why would you harm a person?

Corr.: I believe that he is a government official, and if he committed dishonesty in his work, then this should be made public, because he can commit the same dishonesty...

Raevsky S.V.: He is an honest person. I can say definitely. He is an honest man and left me with the most favorable impressions. He is an independent and responsible person in relation to his country, to his homeland, to his land.

Corr.: I don’t set out to harm him. You misunderstand.

Raevsky S.V.: Your desire and your thought are inappropriate, impractical, unpragmatic - primarily for the interests of the Sverdlovsk region. There is no need to look for crime where there is none. It is necessary to reflect the real problems of developing the region's economy and managing this region. And the fact that you are now trying to find something and blame him for borrowing something... Well, perhaps there are some... Every dissertation candidate defending a dissertation cannot write a completely original work. He's leaning on something.

Corr.: Of course. But you can convey it in your own words, or you can “copy and paste.”

Raevsky S.V.: 30-40 pages out of 160 pages of text, in fact, do not solve much. The main point of the dissertation is not to write a new theory of the issue of investment, but to show a new approach to practical investment management. And he completely succeeded. Therefore, I don’t know who advised you to do this, but the advice is unproductive.

Corr.: Nobody advised me to do this; I found his dissertation and sources myself.

Raevsky S.V.: You need to look for other ways. If you now want to catch some fried facts on this wave, it is unproductive, it is undignified for you as a journalist, as a person. Absolutely undignified.

Corr.: Perhaps. Thank you.

We also asked Konstantin Kiselev, Deputy Director of the Institute of Philosophy and Law of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, to read the dissertations of Bagaryakov and Tretyakov. He himself is the author of scientific works and supervised the writing of 11 dissertations. Here is his assessment:

“1) I am, of course, not an economist. But, in my opinion, the opinion of a political scientist, both dissertations are empty in content. There is no economy there. Perhaps economists would have said more.

2) Plagiarism is obvious and proven.

3) The manager could not help but be aware. Especially considering that the repetitions go on in paragraphs. I know what dissertation supervision is. This is a huge time. This is a debate, this is a huge amount of individual work. This is always an individual approach. This is a search for bits and pieces of something new, special... And it is especially significant when the dissertation candidate is talented. Then you just help... And in the end - a concept, an approach, a principle... And that means it worked out. This is great joy. Such texts are visible. They are significant. You are proud of them. Alas, the situation is different here.

4) The list of authors' works in two dissertations includes the same journal. Most likely, the magazine is pocket-sized.

5) It would be interesting to compare both dissertations with the book: S.V. Raevsky Investment activity in the region. – M., 2006. Or some articles by the scientific supervisor himself. Alas, I could not find any texts on the Internet. I suspect we'll find some surprising things."

It is interesting that all the dissertation candidates of Professor Sergei Raevsky who came to the attention of Znak.com are officials, businessmen and statesmen (or have made such a career in the future). Bagaryakov, after defending his dissertation, became a deputy of the State Duma, now he is the first deputy head of the administration of the governor of the Sverdlovsk region and one of the most influential officials in Evgeny Kuyvashev’s team. Alexander Tretyakov, from whom Bagariakov “copied” during the defense of his dissertation, was a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Omsk Region. By the way, in some borrowed fragments in Bagaryakov’s work, Tretyakov’s text is completely copied, but the phrase “Omsk region” is replaced with “Sverdlovsk region”. The third dissertation candidate, Vladimir Sablin, is the head of the Road Transport Bank in the Kirov region.

Znak.com tried to contact Alexey Bagaryakov for several days. Late last week his phone was switched off. We sent him an SMS asking to talk about the dissertation. Bagaryakov did not respond to the message, and later, when the phone turned on, he did not pick up. We also conveyed a request for communication through Alexey Vladimirovich’s colleagues in the governor’s administration, assistant Natalya Vikhrova. But at the time of preparing this text for publication, it was not possible to talk with Bagaryakov. We are ready to publish his comment later if the official decides to indicate his position.

According to the law, the presence of plagiarism in Alexey Bagaryakov’s dissertation cannot be grounds for depriving him of the scientific degree of Candidate of Economic Sciences. The period for appeals for such scientific works is three years, and since Bagaryakov’s defense, as Professor Raevsky correctly noted, seven years have already passed. Therefore, Alexey Vladimirovich will continue to have the opportunity to put the proud abbreviation “PhD” on his business cards.

PS Znak.com invites everyone, especially representatives of the scientific community, to read Alexey Bagaryakov’s dissertation for themselves . If any of those who have done this would like to convincingly prove the independence of Alexey Vladimirovich’s work or justify its significance for economic science, we will be happy to provide our pages for comment.

Plagiarism was discovered in the dissertation of Governor Kuyvashev’s closest associate