Laura Huhtasaari, a deputy chairperson of the Finns Party, has violated good scientific practice and misled the scientific community by plagiarising portions of her master’s thesis, concludes an independent preliminary investigation conducted at the request of the University of Jyväskylä. (Credit: Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)
The University of Jyväskylä has issued its ruling on the master’s thesis of Laura Huhtasaari, a deputy chairperson of the Finns Party.
The ruling is based on an independent external investigation, which found that the thesis violates good scientific practice to a much greater extent than previously estimated, containing both disregard for good scientific practice and dishonesty in the form of plagiarism.
“For their part, the procedures have misled the scientific community of researchers and the authors of future theses. In terms of nature and scope, the violations of good scientific practice are serious,” reads a press release from the University of Jyväskylä.
The University of Jyväskylä on Monday nevertheless stated that it will not take further action on the findings, arguing that the deadline for doing so has expired from an administrative point of view.
“Launching a proper investigation would not generate any new information that is relevant for evaluating the thesis’ compliance with good scientific practice from the viewpoint of research ethics, because the disregard and dishonesty were exposed in the preliminary stage of the investigation,” it explained.
Huhtasaari, as a result, will not be stripped of her master’s degree. Her thesis was accepted by the University of Jyväskylä in 2003.
