Monash researcher retracts article after claim of plagiarism

A Monash Uni researcher has been forced to retract an article after an investigation found she plagiarised the work of a student.

Monash University researcher Padma Murthi.

A Monash University researcher has been forced to retract an article published in a medical journal after an internal investigation found she had plagiarised the work of a student.

Publisher Elsevier has retracted a 2019 article on pregnancy complications co-authored by senior research fellow Padma Murthi that had appeared in the Biochimica et Biophysica Acta journal, citing an investigation by Monash University into alleged breaches of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research.

“The university concluded, on the balance of probability, that a significant part of the text in the paper was included without knowledge, without consent and without correct attribution of the original author who, at the time, was a student at the university,” the retraction states.

It is understood that the article’s Canadian-based co-author was not implicated in the investigation and was not the subject of any adverse findings.

Monash and Dr Murthi independently confirmed the retraction, however Dr Murthi denied any wrongdoing on her part.

A spokeswoman for the Melbourne university said an investigation had been launched following a complaint from a student “about potential plagiarism by a supervisor”.

“The investigation found in the student’s favour,” the spokeswoman said.

“Monash University takes academic integrity seriously for staff and students, and has policies and procedures in place to deal with any allegations of breaches. We expect all our staff and students to act with honesty, fairness and respect in their academic endeavours.

“The student was offered co-authorship of the article but ­declined, and asked for the article to be retracted. The academic ­received counselling on the issue and is still employed at the university.”

Dr Murthi, who is an expert in human placental development and has close to 200 journal publications to her name, denied she had plagiarised the work of the student, who she had been charged with supervising for a ­period of six months.

“No, it was not plagiarising but I didn’t have the evidence to prove that,” she said. “It’s complicated.”

Dr Murthi said the university had tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with the student in regards to having her name included on the publication.

“But the student didn’t want to comply,” she said. “It’s a good publication that would have helped her.”

According to Elsevier’s policy on article withdrawal, “infringements of professional ethical codes, such as multiple submission, bogus claims of authorship, plagiarism, fraudulent use of data or the like” can warrant a ­retraction.