Five research papers authored by faculty members of Pabna University of Science and Technology (PUST) have been retracted by international scientific journals due to allegations of severe academic irregularities.
The retractions were recently flagged in the global ‘Retraction Watch’ database. The cited irregularities include peer-review manipulation, plagiarism, data duplication, questionable results and artificially inflating citations using irrelevant references.
The database implicates five current PUST teachers and one former faculty member. The current teachers are Dr. Md. Nur Alam (Mathematics), Dr. Tahmina Tasnim Nahar and Dr. Md. Matiur Rahman (Civil Engineering), Dr. Md. Lokman Ali (Physics), and Dr. AHM Iftekharul Ferdous (Electrical and Electronic Engineering). The former teacher, Dr. Harunor Rashid (Mathematics) is currently teaching at Sunamganj University of Science and Technology.
Notably, several of the implicated academics hold prominent positions. One retracted paper was co-authored by Dr. Nahar, the current Civil Engineering Department Chairman and Dr. Rahman. Another belongs to Dr. Nur Alam has been listed among the world's top 2% of scientists for four consecutive years. A third paper was authored by Dr. Lokman Ali who currently serves as the director of the university's Research Cell.
Academic experts stress that while unintentional errors can occur in research with deliberate data forgery and plagiarism are severe ethical violations that undermine scientific progress and institutional credibility.
Defending his work, Dr. Lokman Ali claimed the retraction stemmed from a minor dispute. "A reviewer withdrew the paper because three references were deemed inconsistent and even though I emailed them arguing the citations were relevant to the subject" he said.
Dr. Tahmina Tasneem Nahar attributed her paper's retraction to a citation error. "I mistakenly used the wrong reference. When the journal notified me, I admitted the mistake and requested a correction but they still opted to withdraw the paper" she explained.
PUST Registrar Bijan Kumar Brahma stated he was unaware of the recent retractions. "I first learned of these irregularities from the media. We have not received any formal complaints yet but if we do we will take administrative action" he said, adding that the university had previously disciplined two teachers for similar offenses several years ago.
