DU Prof Dr Mamun Appointed UGC Member Amid Journal Forgery Allegations

Professor Dr. Abdullah Al Mamun of Dhaka University (DU), who has been at the center of a major controversy over alleged publication date forgery, has been appointed as a full-time member of the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh.

The appointment was finalized today, Saturday, through a formal notification issued by the Ministry of Education. The decision arrives despite a written complaint pending with the university administration detailing allegations of metadata manipulation and backdating of academic publications against the professor.

Official notification outlines four-year tenure

The statutory directive, signed by Md. Nesar Uddin, Senior Assistant Secretary of the Private University-1 Branch of the Ministry of Education, confirms that the tenure will span a four-year period under standard regulatory conditions.

According to the gazette, the appointment was executed in accordance with Section 2(B) of the amended Bangladesh University Grants Commission Order, 1973 (Presidential Order No. 10/73), enacted in 1998. Dr. Abdullah Al Mamun, a senior professor attached to the Department of Japanese Studies at Dhaka University, will assume his executive responsibilities at the apex regulatory body of higher education effective immediately.

Anatomy of the journal metadata manipulation allegations

The controversy stems from a formal, evidence-backed complaint submitted in March last year to the former Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University, Professor Dr. Niaz Ahmed Khan. The written complaint was lodged by Associate Professor Dr. Jahangir Alam, a colleague and former Chairman of the same Japanese Studies department.

According to university service rules, to secure permanent job confirmation, a newly promoted teacher must successfully publish an article containing a valid Digital Object Identifier (DOI) within a strict one-year probation period. Dr. Mamun was promoted on February 22, 2022, meaning his mandatory publication deadline was February 22, 2023.

Three teachers from the department were promoted to Associate Professor on the exact same date. Under DU regulations, if a senior teacher fails to publish within the probation window while junior counterparts succeed, the senior faculty member loses institutional seniority.

During the job confirmation committee meeting on May 29, 2023, Dr. Mamun was initially rendered junior to his two colleagues because he failed to submit a published article within the deadline, providing only an acceptance letter from another review journal.

Following this setback, Dr. Mamun allegedly colluded with the editor of the Journal of Governance, Security and Development to backdate an online article to January 1, 2023. Using this newly modified submission, he managed to secure his job confirmation and retroactively restore his departmental seniority over the other two teachers.

Digital evidence contradicts publication timeline

The issue became a matter of technical dispute when Dr. Jahangir Alam conducted a digital metadata analysis on the article's DOI registration, exposing clear discrepancies in the timeline:

"There has been a blatant forgery regarding the publication date," Dr. Jahangir Alam told reporters during the initial investigation. "If this article was genuinely published on January 1, 2023, why was his job confirmation held back during the May 29 committee meeting? The metadata conclusively proves that the DOI for this paper was not even registered until June 1, 2023. It is technologically impossible for a DOI-authenticated article to exist online or in a printed hardcopy prior to its official registration date."

Dr. Alam further argued that the hardcopy version of the journal carried the exact same June-registered DOI number, proving that the physical printing was delayed by more than three months past Dr. Mamun's probation deadline. When approached for comment at the time, the current Chairperson of the Department of Japanese Studies, Dr. Dilruba Sharmin, declined to verify the details, stating that the matter rested entirely with the central university administration.

Accused professor dismisses claims as political retaliation

Denying all allegations of data fabrication, Professor Dr. Abdullah Al Mamun dismissed the complaints as a politically motivated smear campaign orchestrated by partisan factions within the university.

Dr. Mamun defended his record by stating that the complaints against him were entirely fabricated. He claimed his accuser had previously faced disciplinary measures requiring supplementary article submissions due to substandard journal writing during his own promotional track.

Furthermore, Dr. Mamun alleged that Dr. Jahangir Alam belonged to the Awami-backed teacher faction and faced restrictions from academic and administrative duties following student complaints regarding his stance during the July mass uprising.

Addressing the technical timeline, Dr. Mamun stated that an author is only responsible for submitting the text, while the generation and allocation of DOI numbers remain the sole responsibility of the journal publishers. He maintained that the article went online in January 2023 as stated, and concluded that there was absolutely no room for data concealment in the process.