Not mentioning a work over 20 years old was not inadequate referring to earlier research results (TENK 2019:21)

Researcher A from the field of social sciences saw that researcher B from the same field wrote a chapter in a web publication that had matching research methods and results with A’s work published 20 years prior. The contested chapter was a summary of expert work concerning a custom research. 

A saw that B should have mentioned A’s work because a researcher must be acquainted with all the knowledge and prior research available about the research subject. As A’s work was not mentioned in B’s references, A saw that B was guilty of plagiarism.

The university conducted a preliminary inquiry that found no RCR violation in the matter. A requested a statement from TENK. 

TENK stated that denigrating the role of other researchers in publications, such as neglecting to mention them, may be considered a violation of the responsible conduct of research only if the researcher’s conduct has been gross. According to TENK, not mentioning a work published 20 years prior in an article’s references does not fulfil the criteria of an RCR violation. Moreover, concerning the alleged plagiarism of research methods, TENK shared the university’s view that the methods in question had been in common use in many different fields for a long time.