Translated material
Contrary to common sense
“Dissernet” has existed for six years, hundreds of applications have been submitted for the deprivation of a degree, dozens of owners of dishonest degrees lost them. Thanks to the Dissernet, the Russian Academy of Sciences, a number of expert councils of VAK were updated, which previously justified the authors of dissertations with plagiarism. It would seem that it is time to turn the imprisonment into a formal bureaucratic process - subject to irrefutable evidence of plagiarism. However, in recent months there is a particularly fierce struggle for almost every dissertation in economics.
On April 18, Murat Kerefov, First Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, was justified at the VAK Expert Council for Economics. His dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Economics contains incorrect borrowing on 109 pages [ 1 ]. The content of the dissertation does not correspond to not only the existing level of scientific research, but also reality. For example, the work claims to be today 35 thousand transnational corporations (several times more), the one -sidedness of the movement of capital from industrialized countries to developing countries (for all the time of statistical observation, that is, for the past forty years, this has not happened). It’s like writing that trains today use mainly steam engine, and Russia is a net importer of natural gas. Kerefov’s dissertation as a whole is characterized by general unproven phrases, bringing statistical data without a source and a year. I issued all these comments in the form of a statement about the deprivation of a degree and sent it to the Higher Attestation Commission in 2018.
The dissertation was sent for consideration to the dissertation council D212.196.13 at the REU named after G. V. Plekhanov, where M. A. Kerefov was justified with special cynicism. In particular, incorrect borrowings were explained by joint works with authors of the source work (preprints of scientific reports and reports on research work), which were not indicated in the abstract and were suddenly discovered. The arguments with which the substantive comments were refuted, simply do not correspond to common sense. So, to the remark about the absence of periods of research in the dissertation work, the Council answered as follows: “Kerefov M. A. on p. 109 of his dissertation refers to the article by L. Abalkin“ The Agrarian Tragedy of Russia ”<...>, which studies a specific time period, until 2008. In this connection, the applicant’s approval about the absence of the approximate period of Kerefov M. A. is unreasonably” [ 2 ].
I directed my objections to the decision of the dissovetor to the rector of the REU named after Plekhanova to Victor Grishin. It was also prompted to write to him that the decision was referred by my grandfather Academician L.I. Abalkin, whose name was named the scientific and information library center of the REU named after Plekhanova, where he worked for many years. Unfortunately, the unworthy decisions that make the disperses of the Plekhanovka cast a shadow in the name of my grandfather, for which the concepts of honor, honesty, dignity and disinterested service were above all. However, V. I. Grishin did not answer letters.
On April 18 of this year, the expert council of the VAK for the economy decided to preserve the degree of Doctor of Sciences for M. A. Kerefov, despite the incorrect borrowing, the sudden appearance of preprints and the substantial failure of his work. The Expert Council also did not take into account the recommendation of the VAK of December 11, 2018 not to take into account the publication, the information about which was absent in the abstract, because such publications were not taken into account by the dissertation council when considering the issue of awarding a scientific degree [ 3 ]. The final decision should be made by the Presidium of Vak. We will see if his members of common sense is enough.
Anna Abalkina, Phd
UPD . On my letter on the consideration of the dissertation by M. A. Kerefov, addressed to the rector of REU named after Plekhanova V.I. Grishin, the representative of the university - vice -rector for scientific activity, professor, doct. Econ. Sciences V. G. Minashkin.
The letter listed the regulations in accordance with which a meeting of the dissertation council was held in my Cinderella. It was expressed regret that I did not report in advance about the impossibility of attending the meeting - they could be transferred. This is the only thing I had no complaints about. There were no answers in essence.