Matej Bel University officials face plagiarism scandal

A plagiarism scandal has emerged at the Faculty of Law of Matej Bel University (UMB) in Banská Bystrica, involving two high-ranking officials: department head and Judicial Council member Jaroslav Klátik, and Vice-Dean Jozef Michalko.

The two academics co-authored a 12-page scientific paper titled ‘Recognition and execution of foreign prison sentences in the Slovak Republic’ for a university yearbook funded by a 13,000 euro VEGA grant. Investigations revealed that the text contained entire passages copied from a student's thesis, including the phrase ‘the aim of this thesis’. Additionally, the bibliography contained incorrect data for all 11 cited books, including publishers, years, and ISBNs.

Following the discovery, UMB Rector Vladimír Hiadlovský requested the immediate resignation of both officials from their positions. The accused academics have denied intentional plagiarism, characterizing the incident as a mistake involving the accidental attachment of a ‘working version’ of the document rather than the final intended text. Records indicate that a corrected version was uploaded to the university repository in September to replace the original.