The Ethics Committee of the University of Montenegro determines whether an assistant professor at the Faculty of Philosophy Aleksandar Stamatović violated the Code of Ethics of that higher education institution because he allegedly recently threatened members of the state Ethics Committee, an official response was given to "Vijesti" from the University of Montenegro, which he manages. Vladimir Bozovic.
According to unofficial information, Stamatović allegedly threatened certain members of the Ethics Committee due to a previously made decision that he had violated academic integrity and published the same work in two journals - one based in Bulgaria and the other in Romania, which is considered self-plagiarism.
Stamatović did not want to answer questions from "Vijesti" yesterday, stating that he was "really busy." When the journalist asked him to call him later, when he had time, the professor repeated that he was "busy" and ended the call.
"The Ethics Committee has addressed the Ethics Committee of the University of Montenegro with an initiative to determine whether there has been a violation of the Code of Ethics of the University of Montenegro by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Stamatović. The initiative was submitted due to alleged threats made to a member of the Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee will, in accordance with its competences, conduct a procedure to determine all relevant facts and circumstances in connection with the aforementioned report. The Ethics Committee will act professionally, impartially and promptly upon the letter from the Ethics Committee, in full accordance with the Code of Ethics of the University of Montenegro," the response to "Vijesti" was given.
On the official website of the Ethics Committee, headed by a professor at the University of Montenegro Mara Šćepanović, it is stated that "at the electronic session of November 10, 2025, it was decided that the Ethics Committee should address the Ethics Board of the University of Montenegro with a letter stating that the academic community must unequivocally condemn any behavior aimed at intimidating, pressuring or discrediting members of ethics bodies for performing their duties."
"Such actions not only violate the dignity of the individual, but also undermine the reputation of the University of Montenegro and the core values of the academic community - respect, dialogue and responsibility," the Ethics Committee said.
According to the Code of Ethics of the University of Montenegro adopted this summer, for violations of academic integrity, the Ethics Committee may issue an oral warning, a warning, a public warning with publication at the session of the University Senate, as well as a public condemnation with publication at the session of that body. The most drastic sanction is a public condemnation, with publication in the "Bulletin of the University of Montenegro".
"The Ethics Committee shall impose the measures referred to in this Article depending on the severity of the established violation of academic integrity, the damage caused to the reputation of the University, and the assessment of whether the imposed measure will sufficiently influence the person to whom it is imposed not to repeat the violation of academic integrity. An oral warning shall be imposed on a person who behaves improperly during the procedure for establishing a violation of academic integrity. The warning shall be imposed in the form of a written warning, without publication," it is specified in the Rulebook on Establishing Violations of Academic Integrity at the University of Montenegro, and it is emphasized that decisions with the imposed measures of oral warnings and warnings "shall be entered into the file of the persons to whom they were imposed."
According to the document, the Ethics Committee submits decisions on other measures to the bodies and organizational units of the University for entry in the file of the person to whom they were imposed. It is stated that a public warning with an announcement at a session of the University Senate remains in the file for three years from the date of its finality, while two measures of public condemnation remain in the file permanently.
At the electronic session of 10 November 2025, it was decided that the Ethics Committee should address the Ethics Board of the University of Montenegro with a letter stating that the academic community must unequivocally condemn any behavior aimed at intimidating, pressuring or discrediting members of ethics bodies for performing their duties. Such actions not only violate the dignity of the individual, but also undermine the reputation of the University of Montenegro and the basic values of the academic community - respect, dialogue and responsibility, the Ethics Committee said.
The Center for Civic Education announced earlier this month that the Ethics Committee had ruled that Stamatović had violated academic integrity, in the form of self-plagiarism. This was done at the initiative of the NGO.
The statement specifies that in March 2025, CCE submitted a proposal to the Ethics Committee to determine a violation of academic integrity by Stamatović.
According to the CCE, this is the same work that Stamatović published in two scientific journals - "Bulgarian Historical Review" and "Transylvanian Review".
"CCE believes that this behavior damages the reputation of the University of Montenegro and makes it more difficult for its academic staff, who will have a much more difficult path to publishing their works and will be under the scrutiny of reference scientific databases of importance for the referentiality and progress of researchers. Unfortunately, the Ethics Committee of the University of Montenegro, which has previously protected Stamatović on several occasions, declared itself incompetent in this specific case, explaining that the disputed works were published outside of Montenegro (in Romania and Bulgaria). The case was then, ex officio, forwarded to the Ethics Committee of Montenegro," CCE announced.
They add that after seven months, the Ethics Committee determined that this was a violation of academic integrity - plagiarism, in the form of self-plagiarism, although it stated "without personal gain."
"Stamatović also violated the ethical rules of the journal in which he published his works, which are in accordance with the standards of the Web of Science database and explicitly prohibit double publication of the same results, even in a modified form. CCE regrets that, despite clear evidence, the bodies that decide on ethical issues at the University of Montenegro continue to avoid making principled decisions that would also have a preventive effect, but instead continuously relativize cases of violations of academic integrity," it was announced.
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