UPSA investigates senior lecturer over plagiarism

The University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) has begun investigations into allegations of plagiarism levelled against the Head of Banking and Finance Department of the institution.

This is in response to several news reports, especially on online platforms, accusing the senior lecturer of allegedly causing an article to be published under his name in the Daily Graphic, even though he did not author the piece.

Statement

“The attention of the university’s management has been drawn to these publications,” the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the UPSA, Professor Charles Barnor, said in a statement issued by the university.

“In the spirit of fairness and natural justice, management needs to conduct a thorough investigation. That’s exactly what we are doing right now. The UPSA holds both faculty and students to a very high ethical code and does not compromise on academic integrity,” he said.

According to Prof. Barnor, the outcome of the investigations would be made known to the public as soon as they were concluded.

Investigations

“This is a very transparent investigation and the fact that many people have shown interest in it is yet another indication of the status of UPSA and the high regard most Ghanaians have for the university. We would like to make it clear that we take these allegations as seriously as our stakeholders do and when we are done with the investigations, we would make our findings and final decision known to all,” he said.

The UPSA was recently named as one of the best three universities in Ghana in the 2020 Global Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings. The THE Impact Rankings assesses universities against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, balancing their scores across broad areas such as research, outreach and stewardship.