I was naughty, but settled down

The scientific degree of the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky was obtained in compliance with the formal procedure and therefore cannot be canceled. This was stated by the chairman of the Expert Council of the Supreme Certification Commission, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Pavel Uvarov, RIA Novosti reports .

“Despite the formal point of the Protection Regulation, which provides for the imprisonment of the low quality of work as a historian - and I am engaged in the history of universities - I am sure that the degree received subject to the formal procedure is not subject to cancellation. This is not a contract and not a contract, and justified, to the dissertation council, to the opponents, but not to the dissertant,” said Uvarov.

According to the chairman, members of the Council, who voted against the deprivation of the minister of a scientific degree, were guided by the same considerations. “Although the arguments of the majority are also clear. After all, we were asked about the quality of the dissertation, not about high matters. And we could only answer on the merits of the dissertation,” said Uvarov.

On Monday, the Expert Council on the history of the highest certification commission voted for the deprivation of the Medine degree of Doctor of Historical Sciences. The final decision on the degree of the Minister will make the Presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission at the meeting on October 20.

The official opinion of the Higher School experts says that in his work Medinsky did not open anything new. “The fact that many foreigners in their writings“ were tendentious ”and wrote“ under the influence of a certain political conjuncture ”, since 1866, has been known to Russian historical science thanks to the classical work of Vasily Klyuchevsky“ The Tale of Foreigners about the Moscow State, ”the document says. Medinsky also stated in the dissertation that“ the national interests of Russia create an absolute standard of truthfulness. ” contradicts the methodological principles of historical science.

According to experts, the minister enjoyed the translations of sources, and not by the originals, selectively quoted the annals. The expert council also doubted that Medinsky generally worked in the archives. “Of course, individual flaws, errors, inaccuracies, typos can be in any study. But in the dissertation of Medinsky, their number goes off scale, being a systemic, qualitative problem,” the Higher School experts came to the conclusion.

On Tuesday, the Minister of Education and Science Olga Vasilieva said that two dissertation councils had already made a positive decision regarding the work of Medinsky and noted that there was no plagiarism in the dissertation . “A very important point is the lack of plagiarism in work. Well, the fact that the author introduced his vision of history, this is just the very polemic story that should be,” said Vasilieva. At the same time, the theme of plagiarism in the conclusion of experts was not raised at all.

The conclusions of the VAK Council are contrary to the decision of the dissection of the Belgorod State University, which in July confirmed the degree of Medinsky . The university did not find formal violations in the dissertation of Medinsky and recognized its scientific value, however, they noted the presence of "some inaccuracies" and "individual elements of ideological tendency" in work.

In April last year, the application for the deprivation of the Medine degree was submitted by the Doctor of Historical Sciences Vyacheslav Kozlyakov, Konstantin Yerusalimsky and the holder of the degree of PH.D. Ivan Babitsky. Having analyzed the dissertation of the Minister "Objectivity Problems in the coverage of Russian history of the second half of the XV-XVII centuries," they have called into question its scientific value.