By Muttukrishna Sarvananthan –

This is the 4^th article in the series on academic and intellectual fraud in Sri Lanka on Colombo Telegraph following the first three (in reverse order) noted below. (here, here and here). At the very outset, the author would like to make it crystal clear that the SOLE PURPOSE of this exposé is to make the apex public higher educational authorities (e.g. the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Directors Sri Lanka – CVCD, and the University Grants Commission – UGC) take responsibility for their decisions, make them accountable for their actions, encourage them to strictly enforce their own rules and regulations, and thereby foster academic/research/scientific integrity and meritocracy in Sri Lanka. The academia/universities in Sri Lanka have been infested with an ever-growing number of deadly leeches, especially in the last two decades or so (but ever since the establishment of the University of Sri Lanka in 1972). These leeches are sucking the blood of authentic/genuine/real academics and researchers in the public universities and research institutions and private tertiary educational institutions and think tanks with impunity due to the apathy of the UGC, CVCD, National Science Foundation (NSF), National Research Council (NRC), Sri Lanka Association for Advancement of Science (SLAAS), and individual universities and tertiary educational institutions (both public and private).

CVCD Excellence Awards 2020

In July 2020, the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Directors (CVCD) Sri Lanka called for applications from public university academic staff for the CVCD Excellence Awards for the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher, the Most Outstanding Young Researcher (under 40 years old), and the Most Outstanding Inventor in the following six fields of study; viz, (1) Health Sciences, including Medicine, Dental Science, Veterinary Science, and Other Allied Sciences, (2) Technology and related Sciences including Engineering, Architecture, Quantity Surveying, and Information Technology, (3) Biological Sciences including Agriculture and Allied Sciences, (4) Physical Sciences, (5) Humanities, Aesthetics, and Social Sciences, and (6) Management & Law. These awards are conferred every two years. The deadline for applications was August 15, 2020, which was later extended to August 31, 2020. The Chairperson of the CVCD in 2020 was the then Vice Chancellor of the Open University of Sri Lanka who was the one soliciting the applications.   

This author was one of six (6) applicants/candidates for the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher in Humanities, Aesthetics, and Social Sciences in the CVCD Excellence Awards 2020 having lodged my application in late-July 2020. Since I did not hear from the CVCD about the outcome of my application for more than six months, in February 2021, I sent an email to the Vice Chancellor of the Open University inquiring about the outcome of my application/candidature. He did not have the courtesy to reply to my email, which is the norm in Sri Lanka where even the Chairperson of the UGC does not reply to snail mails or emails (in one very recent case, the UGC even did not bother to reply to an important letter from one of the Secretaries to the President for 2 long months until the State Minister for Higher Education requested the UGC to reply). Most public universities in Sri Lanka (including the ones which come under different ministries) do not even bother to reply to the requests for information made in terms of the Right to Information (RTI) Act No.12 of 2016, in naked contempt of this law. 

Hence, I lodged a complaint against the CVCD with the Ombudsman (Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration) about the failure of the CVCD to reply to my correspondence/s. 

Only after the Ombudsman wrote to the CVCD asking for a report on my complaint, did the Secretary to the CVCD on behalf of the Chairperson of the CVCD in 2021 (Vice Chancellor of Uva Wellasa University) write to me in April 2021 saying “I regret to inform you that your application has not been successful this time.” which I received only in June 2021. Then, in terms of the RTI Act, I requested the following information from the CVCD dated July 01, 2021.

“Kindly provide the full names, affiliation, and marks/points claimed by ALL the applicants, and marks/points awarded by the evaluator, for the award of Most Outstanding Senior Researcher in Humanities, Aesthetics, and Social Sciences in 2020.”  

 Then Chair of the CVCD by a letter dated August 04, 2021, rejected my request for information claiming that, 

“Having considered your request letter dated July 01, 2021, the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Directors (CVCD), at its 441^st Meeting held on July 31, 2021, decided not to disclose the requested data, as per the Section 5. (1). (a) and (d) of the Right to Information Act No.12 of 2016.”  

On August 06, 2021, I appealed against the refusal of the CVCD to provide me with the requested information to the Right to Information Commission (RTIC). In addition to the COVID-19-induced lockdowns between August to October 2021, the term of office of the first RTIC expired in September 2021 and therefore my appeal got delayed to be taken up for inquiry. In earnest, my Appeal (RTIC / Appeal / 944 / 2021) was scheduled for inquiry on July 21, 2022, which again got postponed to August 25, 2022, due to the prevailing political upheaval in Colombo during July 2022.

In the meantime, CVCD sent its written submissions to the RTIC, given the impending inquiry, on July 08, 2022, which was copied to the Appellant (me). In its written submissions, the CVCD revealed the name and affiliation of the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher in Humanities, Aesthetics, and Social Sciences in 2020 without disclosing the marks/points claimed and obtained by ALL the contestants (including the Awardee), which I had requested in terms of the RTI Act. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LnLGzEmltDaGWKgRF6D57036Rt_TC1y3i-PBi6XIcL0/edit

The name of the Awardee was sufficient for me to search Google Scholar for the credentials of the Awardee. What I discovered was mindboggling, to say the least. 

On July 10, 2022, I wrote to the current (2022) Chair of the CVCD (copied to the RTIC as supplementary written submission of the Appellant), who is the current Vice Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, what I have discovered. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iqRyyLn2pJxPzzOKHsoxZrRTJbuAjdkJLK-LWqOhDIY/edit

The pertinent extracts from my letter dated July 10, 2022, are as follows, which are self-explanatory.

“……………………………………..At the outset, I would like to make it clear to the Chair of the CVCD that my purpose in seeking the information I requested from the CVCD last year was on a matter of principle and law; that is, my endeavour was to make the CVCD, as the apex body of the intellectuals in this country, comply with the Right to Information (RTI) Act No.12 of 2016.” 

“I have to make it explicitly clear that my intention was NOT to claim/reclaim the award of the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher in Humanities, Aesthetics, and Social Sciences for myself from the person who has already been awarded last year, which you have identified in your written submission. This is precisely why I am seeking your kind cooperation to keep the sensitive information revealed herein confidential. Secondly, I also have to make it amply clear that my application for the aforementioned award in July 2020 was not an intention to bring personal glory to myself because I am a humble barefoot researcher and not a rat racer; instead, it was an effort to bring glory to a peripheral tier 2 University of Jaffna, which was my employer at that time.” 

“I am herewith attaching the Google Scholar Metrics of the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher in Humanities, Aesthetics, and Social Sciences (hereafter referred to as Most Outstanding Senior Researcher) awarded last year. (see Annexure 2 – pages 8)”

“Accordingly, out of the total of 86 journal articles/books/conference papers of the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher catalogued on the google scholar pages ONLY 15 (just 17.5%) are single-authored. As you are aware, the points/marks awarded for single-author and multiple-author research outputs are different; that is, full marks (1) for the former and 0.6 or less (depending on the number of co-authors) for co-authored outputs.” 

“More importantly, 16 out of the total 86 research outputs (i.e. 18.6%) are publications in predatory journals or by predatory publishers. Out of the total publications of the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher, 9 were articles in predatory journals and 7 books were published by predatory publishers. As the CVCD is fully aware, predatory journal articles and books published by predatory publishers are explicitly outlawed in terms of the Commission Circular No.11 of 2019 (ii), of the UGC dated November 27, 2019. https://www.ugc.ac.lk/attachments/2166_Comm.%20Circular%20No%2011_2019(ii).pdf Therefore, the applicant (Most Outstanding Senior Researcher) cannot claim any points/marks for the publications highlighted in Annexure 2.”

“The names of the predatory journals in which 9 articles of the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher have been published are as follows: (see Annexure 3 – pages 2 – for evidence)

1. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications (IJSRP). https://www.openacessjournal.com/blog/predatory-journals-list/ (see under the alphabet “I”, see also https://beallslist.net/standalone-journals/)

2. International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR). https://twitter.com/academic_trivia/status/1421743221588172803

3. International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Current Educational Research (IJMCER). https://www.openacessjournal.com/blog/predatory-journals-list/ (see under the alphabet “I”, see also https://beallslist.net/standalone-journals/)

4. International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development (IJSRED). https://www.openacessjournal.com/blog/predatory-journals-list/ (see under the alphabet “I”, see also https://beallslist.net/standalone-journals/)

5. International Journal for Innovation Education and Research (IJIER).” https://www.openacessjournal.com/blog/predatory-journals-list/ (see under the alphabet “I”, see also https://beallslist.net/standalone-journals/)

“The names of the predatory publishers who have published books/monographs by the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher are as follows: (see Annexure 4 – pages 11 – for evidence)

1. Lambert Academic Publishing (LAP) https://scholarlyoa.com/lambert-academic-publishing-a-must-to-avoid/ 

https://slate.com/technology/2014/03/lap-lambert-academic-publishing-my-trip-to-a-print-content-farm.html https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09505431.2021.2005562?needAccess=true

2. VDM Publishing House Ltd., Meldrum Court 17, Beau Bassin, Mauritius” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OmniScriptum

“In light of the foregoing sensitive and stunning revelations, firstly, does the CVCD still believe that the award of Most Outstanding Senior Researcher in Humanities, Aesthetics, and Social Sciences for 2020 was “fair and transparent” and “without prejudice or bias”? Secondly, could the CVCD still claim that the evaluation panel on Humanities, Aesthetics, and Social Sciences were “independent panels of eminent academics”?”

“Therefore, the humble request of this appellant is NOT the revocation of the award to the awardee made last year, but instead a written apology and remorse by the CVCD to this appellant (Muttukrishna Sarvananthan) firstly for not divulging the information requested in terms of the RTI Act No.12 of 2016 for more than a year now, and secondly FAILING TO detect the fraudulent claims made by the applicants (not only that of the winner of the award but other 4 applicants as well, excluding the appellant) for the said award. Additionally, I reiterate that I require the information I had requested over a year ago.”  

Ironically, I have not received an acknowledgement or a reply to my letter dated July 10, 2022, to the CVCD to date.

At the appeal hearing on August 25, 2022, the Right to Information Commission upheld my appeal and ordered the CVCD to provide me with the requested information/data before September 30, 2022. https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Eo5Tu3QFb_CWefuZsrQqNVzCnRmhfsrYFUIrm7E9Rw/edit

In earnest, I received the requested information/data from the CVCD dated September 22, 2022, on September 26, 2022, just four days before the deadline. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tnmyJ2l1caVD4NskQlXZJiSsbvznIGEXwW_nBW-h1bU/edit

Accordingly, the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher in Humanities, Aesthetics, and Social Sciences in 2020 was awarded 134 marks/points by the panel of evaluators, followed by 128 to this author (second highest), and 105 to the third highest scorer. The gap between the highest scorer (Awardee-134) and the second highest scorer (this author-128) is just 6 marks/points, and the gap between the 2^nd and 3^rd highest scorers is 22.5 marks/points. The table of this information/data provided by the CVCD is as follows; where the names and affiliations of the contestants, except mine, have been taken off to respect the privacy of other contestants. The letter from the CVCD providing me with this information can be read here.

Having received the information/data sought over a year ago in terms of the RTI ACT No.12 of 2016, I was relieved that my suspicion about this episode has been vindicated. Again, I wrote to the CVCD on September 28, 2022; the relevant extracts of that correspondence are as follows, which is self-explanatory.  

“……………………………………………………………………. A learned institution such as the CVCD should have the courtesy and magnanimity to own up to its mistakes and/or injustices committed and express remorse for the mistakes made or injustices committed, wittingly or unwittingly, by it. The very high international stature of the current Chair of the CVCD is such that I should have received an apology unreservedly before requesting the same.”

“I hereby give the CVCD time till October 31, 2022, to provide me a written apology and the acceptance of INJUSTICE meted out to me in the selection of the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher in Humanities, Aesthetics, and Social Sciences for the CVCD Excellence Awards 2020. If not, unfortunately, I will be compelled to exposé the CVCD publicly to foster research and scientific integrity in Sri Lanka.”

Now that I have not even received an acknowledgement of my correspondence (let alone a reply to it) by the end of October 2022, I am compelled to exposé the CVCD publicly to inculcate a sense of responsibility, accountability, and the virtues of justice and fair play to the apex governing cum regulatory body of the universities in Sri Lanka, viz. the UGC, and it’s supposed advisor CVCD. 

Although the CVCD has its chairperson, the influence of the UGC on CVCD is paramount, in which the Chair of the UGC is an ex-officio member. It is indeed surreal that the legally mandated (in terms of the Universities Act No. 16 of 1978 and the subsequent amendments thereof) GATEKEEPERS of academic standards and scientific integrity, viz. the UGC and CVCD, require to be educated on their duties and responsibilities by a layperson such as this author.

The office bearers/postholders of Chairperson of the UGC, Vice Chancellor of a University, Dean of a Faculty, or Head of a Department should have the dignity of office such as being responsive to their respective students, colleagues, and employees, unblemished leadership qualities of upholding meritocracy (as opposed to seniority), upholding professional ethics, decorum, and standards, fairness to all, and above all possess a personal trait of humbleness (as opposed to ego). Ironically, in Sri Lanka vast majority of the aforementioned office bearers/postholders think and act as if the institution (or sub-unit thereof) they head is their dowry house.

Academic staff in Sri Lankan universities, in general, think that students are their slaves and they are masters. Public universities are set up NOT to provide employment to their staff (academic and non-academic); instead, public universities are primarily meant to impart knowledge to, facilitate learning of, and stimulate the knowledge creation of our future generations. This author always tells his students that I am employed (by the taxpayers) to impart knowledge, facilitate learning, and stimulate the knowledge creation of his students. Therefore, I am a servant (”coolie”) of my students and NOT vice-versa.

Who is the black sheep behind this injustice?

It is amply evident that the GRAVE INJUSTICE meted out to this author by the CVCD revealed herein was intentional for the following circumstantial reasons. Firstly, if there was no intentional fraud, the CVCD did not have to play hide and seek by ignoring my correspondences before and after the selection of the Awardee/s. Secondly, the illegal and irrational rejection of my request, in terms of the RTI Act, for information/data for more than a year is a demonstration of the absence of transparency and accountability in the evaluation process and an attempt to cover up its fraud and guilt. 

This author has no hesitation in speculating that the black sheep behind this grave injustice is none other than the incumbent Vice Chancellor (VC) of the University of Jaffna (UoJ), Sivakolundu Srisatkunarajah, who is an ex-officio member of the CVCD. He reportedly has a history of undercutting students and colleagues who are superior to him in terms of professional accomplishments and competence and is deeply envious of such students and colleagues as noted below (for example). The former Chair of CVCD (2020) and former (until June 2021) Vice Chancellor of the Open University of Sri Lanka, Samuel Anbahan Ariadurai (now retired), is also a prime suspect because it was under his leadership the applications for the CVCD Excellence Awards 2020 were processed in early 2021 at the Open University of Sri Lanka.

The following comment by a reader of https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/jaffna-university-vice-chancellor-commits-fraud-again-with-impunity/, who is an academic colleague of VC Srisatkunarajah at the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at the UoJ, is self-explanatory.

Ragav / September 16, 2022 (first public comment in the aforementioned exposé)

“The present VC Srisatkunarajah of the University of Jaffna is a disaster to the whole country and he has been committing serious academic and financial crimes since his appointment as lecturer. Earlier he was reported to have removed two sheets from the answer script of a very intelligent student, who became an eminent academic in the Math Department later, just to penalize his marks. Then Head and a Professor of Math resolved this issue and saved Srisatkunarajah from getting fired from the post and upholded justice for the victim. There were several incidents that Srisatkunarajah attempted to handicap genuine students just for his supremacy……………”

Of course, VC Srisatkunarajah does not hold much power within the CVCD to victimise this author; however, he is a close buddy of the incumbent Chair of the UGC, who has overwhelming power within the CVCD and is suspected to be covering up the illegal misdeeds of the incumbent VC of UoJ for the past two years in office (interested persons can read the exposé noted above). For example, VC Srisatkunarajah has recently transferred the Internal Auditor at the UoJ without any legitimate reason/s, who has been investigating financial fraud at the Department of Botany and has illegally assumed duties as the Internal Auditor of the UoJ as well, suspected to be with the tacit approval of the UGC Chair. I am informed that this financial fraud is now being investigated by the Auditor General’s Department as well as the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC – Case Number BC / 1880 / 2021). Is it not a blatant conflict of interest for a university’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to function as the Internal Auditor as well? 

Therefore, I suspect that the Chair of the UGC on the behest of the VC Srisatkunarajah has caused this grave injustice to this author in the CVCD Excellence Awards 2020.  

Beyond the holy grail of citations

Sri Lankan print media has been repeatedly highlighting the Sri Lankans (38 according to the latest list) among the ranking of the world’s top 2% of scientists by Stanford University in the USA in partnership with Elsevier BV (one of the world’s largest scientific publishers). https://www.sundaytimes.lk/221030/education/several-lankans-in-2021-worlds-top-2-scientists-rankings-500159.html There are serious deficiencies (for example, inclusion of citations of articles in predatory journals in Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science databases) and manipulations in these rankings along with the so-called world-class university rankings, and therefore the readers are cautioned not to be carried away with this academic gluttony. (read the following articles for further details https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11192-020-03378-9.pdf  https://bigthink.com/the-present/attention-economy-science-damaged/)

Conclusions and policy recommendations

The crime committed by the CVCD cum UGC exposed herein is tantamount to the custodians of the public purse, viz. the parliamentarians, pickpocketing the state coffers. 

When the gatekeepers of academic standards and scientific integrity commit fraud what is left of the academia in general, and the universities in particular, in Sri Lanka?  

In light of this stunning revelation, the very minimum tangible actions this author is expecting the CVCD and the UGC to take are the following. Are there any takers?

1. The call for applications for future CVCD Excellence Awards should explicitly and unequivocally mention that any applicant with claims of fake publications in predatory journals, publications (books/monographs) by predatory publishers, etc, will be permanently barred from applying for any awards, be it the Presidential Awards of the National Research Council (NRC) or the CVCD Excellence Awards.

2. All the names and affiliations of the applicants/candidates for different awards by the CVCD and NRC should be publicised among the academic staff of all the public universities in Sri Lanka and/or through the mass print media so that anyone could raise objections to questionable credentials of the applicants if any. The proposed practice is similar to the Parliamentary Committee advertising the names of persons who are expected to be appointed for very high positions in the government (e.g. appointment of diplomats) for public comments and objections.   

3. The four senior academic evaluators who marked the submissions for the CVCD Excellence Award for the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher in Humanities, Aesthetics, and Social Sciences in 2020 should be permanently barred from evaluating candidates for the recruitment or promotion of academic staff, permanently barred from examination of postgraduate degrees/dissertations/theses, and permanently barred from being in the evaluation panel of CVCD Excellence Awards or the Presidential Awards of the NRC in the future because they are utterly incompetent and lack academic/intellectual/scientific integrity to evaluate the same.  

4. The Awardee of the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher in Humanities, Aesthetics, and Social Sciences in the CVCD Excellence Awards 2020 should be barred from holding any position of power (such as the Head of Department (HoD), Dean, Vice Chancellor, member of a selection/promotion panel, examination panel of postgraduate degrees, etc) at the university level or UGC level anywhere in Sri Lanka.

*Muttukrishna Sarvananthan is the Founder cum Principal Researcher of the Point Pedro Institute of Development, Point Pedro, Northern Province, Sri Lanka, established in 2004. The author is a Development Economist by profession and has studied and earned degrees from four universities (Ph.D. Wales, M.Sc. Bristol, M.Sc. Salford & B.A. (Hons) Delhi) in two different countries (UK & India), and has undertaken postdoctoral research work in two universities (Monash University & George Washington University) in two different countries (Australia & USA). Moreover, to date, he has been the author or co-author of over 55 peer-reviewed publications (of which, over 30 were in international scholarly journals), and has been a peer-reviewer of over 35 articles submitted to international scholarly journals published by leading global academic publishers during 23 years of his post-doctorate scholarly career. Furthermore, he has been an external examiner of Ph.D. theses submitted to the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia (2015), and Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India (2006). Muttukrishna Sarvananthan is also an emerging academic fraud detective who can be contacted at  sarvi@pointpedro.org