The president of Aizu University in Japan, Toshiaki Miyazaki, has resigned following two investigations that revealed self-plagiarism and double-submission in a dozen papers. The investigations, initiated more than a year ago, found that Miyazaki had self-plagiarized four papers initially, resulting in a forfeiture of 20% of one month's salary. Subsequent investigations revealed self-plagiarism in three papers and double submission in five, all related to sensor network studies published between 2008 and 2016.
The university's committee concluded that Miyazaki significantly neglected the basic duty of care expected of a researcher, emphasizing that he failed to adapt to changes in research misconduct guidelines and lacked attention to submission rules. Miyazaki believed that reusing sentences and figures without citations in new papers did not constitute self-plagiarism. The committee recommended retractions and corrections for the affected papers and highlighted Miyazaki's failure to consider student contributions appropriately.
In response to the episode, the university plans to implement changes, including provisions for categorizing misconduct like self-plagiarism and double submission, and enhancements to research ethics education. Miyazaki's resignation is effective July 31, 2023.