– It has never been a deliberate act – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country

– It has never been a conscious act on my part. As I have said to several people, had I been aware of it, I would also never have published my master’s thesis online, says former Research and Higher Education Minister Sandra Borch (Sp) to news. On 19 January, former research and higher education minister Sandra Borch (Sp) resigned as minister following revelations about plagiarism in her master’s thesis. Since then, Borch has been very tight-lipped about the plagiarism case. On Monday evening, she is a guest on Dagsrevyen to talk about what happened. – There is no doubt that I have done something wrong, and I have taken responsibility for that. It was also the basis for my choosing to resign as Minister of Research and Higher Education because I saw that it was not compatible with being Minister of Research and Higher Education, she says to news. Plagiarism in master’s theses Borch obtained a master’s degree in jurisprudence at UiT Norway’s Arctic University in 2014. Several parts of her master’s thesis are identical to assignments submitted by previous students, without sources being given. Former research and higher education minister Sandra Borch (Sp) during the press conference in January where she said she was resigning as minister. Photo: Rodrigo Freitas / NTB E24 was the first newspaper to report on the case. Just before the plagiarism revelations became known, Borch chose to appeal the self-plagiarism case to the Supreme Court. – You faced this case against a student. Did you ever think that maybe this applies to me too? – No, and if I had, I would have spoken up earlier, Borch replies. She explains that she was on a county trip when she was made aware of the plagiarism case, but that she only continued the trip because she didn’t think it could be that serious. – But when I came back, I realized that it was serious and not compatible with being Minister of Research and Higher Education. I have taken the consequences of that and benefited from it, she continues. After Borch’s plagiarism case became known, news and several other media revealed that several sentences in Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol’s (Ap) master’s thesis were identical to other master’s theses. Kjerkol, on the other hand, has rejected the allegations of cheating and plagiarism.



ttn-69