But university rides to rescue, with statement issued late on Friday
Portugal’s minister of health Ana Paula Martins is involved in a controversy due to alleged plagiarism in an academic report submitted to the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon at the end of 2023 (see update below).
The story has been broken by Público newspaper, and widely repeated.
Ms Martins is said to have copied and translated passages from a course at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine – a course she attended between 2020 and 2022, which served as the basis for the advanced training programme she proposed in her sabbatical report at the end of 2023.
According to the minutes of the scientific council of the Faculty of Pharmacy, to which Público claims to have had access, significant “non-conformities” were identified.
“The report was considered to be a ‘transposition of a pedagogical programme already existing in an English university’, writes SIC Notícias on its website.
“Although attendance of the course in London was mentioned, there were no citations or references to the transcription of the contents of the English course – and the Faculty of Pharmacy’s scientific council approved the report”.
Explains SIC, “Ana Paula Martins’ sabbatical report aimed to create an advanced training programme in Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance. The structure and objectives of the proposed course were practically identical to those of the English course, with minimal modifications”.
Ana Paula Martins has told Público that she was unaware of the existence of the scientific council’s minutes pointing out problems in her report until she was contacted by the press in March of this year.
“The case raises questions about academic integrity and transparency in the process of evaluating sabbatical leave reports at the University of Lisbon”, says SIC. “The approval of the report, despite (its) irregularities, and the lack of an opportunity for Ana Paula Martins to defend herself before the scientific council, add to the controversy”, says the station.
Ana Paula Martins, who was also president of the board of directors of Santa Maria Hospital until January this year, has not answered questions over these accusations of plagiarism. She has also refused to provide (her) report for clarification, says SIC.
As for the Faculty of Pharmacy, it did release the document, but only after a decision by the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents, concludes the station.
UPDATE: Hours after this text went up online in the wake of widely shared coverage in the national media, the Faculty of Pharmacy issued a statement – signed by the president of the faculty’s Scientific Council, António Almeida, and its director, Beatriz Lima – which stated that “the report on the activities carried out was analysed by the Scientific Council, which assessed various aspects of the report and concluded that the work presented complied with the proposed programme.
“No other conclusions can be drawn, particularly with regard to the alleged plagiarism, which did not occur,” said the two.
Source material: SIC Notícias
