Professorship Scandal in Lambung Mangkurat University

A SHEET of paper was affixed to one of the doors at the Faculty of Law building of Lambung Mangkurat University (ULM) in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. The paper read: “Professors’ Room.” It also listed the names of 16 professors who occupy that space.

The room appeared empty when visited on Tuesday, June 4. Of the 16 professors who have offices there, 13 were newly appointed in mid-2023. ULM is actively increasing the number of professors on campus. Vice Rector Iwan Aflanie mentioned that the university administration is pushing each faculty to increase the number of professors.

“This is in order to improve the campus ranking and expedite becoming a legal entity state university,” said Iwan, a forensic specialist, to Tempo on Wednesday, June 12. As of May, ULM has 116 professors.

However, the number of professors may decrease. A team from the Inspectorate-General of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology is currently investigating irregularities in the application process of 11 newly appointed professors from the Faculty of Law. Two sources familiar with the process indicated that their titles might be revoked due to severe indications of academic violation.

The findings originated from the Education Ministry team’s examination of 10 law professors in December 2023. They investigated the scientific article requirements submitted. The 2019 Operational Guidelines for Credit Score Assessment issued by the Education Ministry stipulate that professorship candidates must submit scientific articles in reputable international journals as part of their application.

According to three academics closely examining the ULM case, there is a pattern in the journals used by the professors. They uniformly submitted scientific articles to the International Journal of Cyber Criminology (IJCC) and the International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences (IJCJS). Some articles were even co-authored.

The official websites of IJCC and IJCJS provide related information about the publisher profiles. IJCC shows that its longtime publisher is Karuppannan Jaishankar, a criminologist from India. Meanwhile, IJCJS lists the South Asian Society of Criminology and Victimology as its longtime publisher, with Jaishankar serving as its president. The new publisher for both journals is H&N Publishers Limited in Solihull, England, owned by an Indonesian citizen, Nira Hariyatie.

Contacted via WhatsApp at the end of May, Jaishankar mentioned that he no longer serves as editor or publisher of the journals. He advised checking the official websites of IJCC and IJCJS. “My journals were handed over to another group about two years ago,” said the graduate of the doctoral program at the University of Madras, India.

Jaishankar claimed he has no connection with Indonesian academics. He suspects that the company that took over his journals has transferred ownership to an Indonesian citizen. Jaishankar also claimed that his journals have a good reputation.

The Education Ministry team returned to Jakarta without significant findings during the initial inspection. However, they suspected that the articles submitted by ULM professors might be the product of a paper mill, which commonly produces fake journals. Indicators of a paper mill include guaranteed publication of articles and offers for writing services.

The team returned to Banjarmasin in the last week of March with a specific target: to examine correspondence between the professorial candidates and journal editors. Correspondence documents usually include copies of electronic mails from when the article was submitted until the publication decision it is issued.

An academic from ULM and a lecturer associated with the Education Ministry who knew about the investigation revealed that dozens of professors from the Faculty of Law were examined in turn from 8am until 2am.

According to the same source, the professors were asked to bring their personal laptops and open their email inboxes. At this moment, the professors were taken aback. An academic who heard about the inspection mentioned that none of the professors could provide evidence of correspondence. Some claimed their computers were malfunctioning, and they forgot their email passwords.

Nevertheless, the Education Ministry team was able to prove that the correspondence documents of the ULM professors were falsified. Tempo obtained copies of this fake correspondence. One of them was between Rahmida Erliyani and the editor of the International Journal of Cyber Criminology.

On the first page of the document, there were anomalies such as the mention of “Lambung Mangkurat University, Karawang, Indonesia.” There was also a Gmail logo, although Rahmida’s account uses the campus server @ulm.ac.id. The format and writing style of the body of the letter were similar to those of other professors. The closing of the letter did not clearly state the editor’s name, only the stamp “Editor-in-Chief.”

Contacted on Friday, June 7, Rahmida promised to provide a written response. However, she said three days later that she was feeling unwell. “I will respond once I am feeling better,” she said. However, no response was received until Friday, July 5.

Three academics involved in the ULM investigation mentioned that Muhammad Rizki Anugerah, a staff member of the Faculty of Law dean’s office, is suspected of falsifying correspondence evidence. Consequently, he was also questioned in the Education Ministry’s second investigation.

Throughout June 3-9, Tempo attempted to obtain responses from the professors of the Faculty of Law at ULM. Eleven professors questioned by the Ministry of Education did not respond to phone calls. The dean’s office staff named Rizki also did not respond. Interview requests were also sent to the office of Dean Achmad Faishal of the Faculty of Law, but they did not respond until Friday, July 5.

On Tuesday, June 4, Tempo encountered Djoni Sumardi Gozali and Anang Shophan Tornado, two of the 11 ULM professors questioned by the Education Ministry. They immediately avoided being interviewed on the spot. Waving his hand, Djoni said, “I decline to comment, talk to the Dean instead.” Anang hurriedly walked towards the parking area. “I don’t dare to comment," he said.

More admissions were obtained during the Education Ministry’s second examination. A source familiar with the process said several professors admitted to spending between Rp70 million to Rp130 million (around US$4,300-8,000) during their application for the professorship. This money was allegedly deposited into the Intellectual Edge Consultancy Limited Partnership (CV).

Company records show that Intellectual Edge was registered with a notary in 2019. They declared themselves as a company involved in research, catering services, and printing. Nira Hariyatie is listed as an active partner, while Nisyriina Nur Aribbah is a passive partner. The company did not declare any assets in its articles of association.

Intellectual Edge is suspected of acting as an agent for publishing academic articles for ULM professors. Nira also serves as a board member of H&N Publishers Limited, which publishes the International Journal of Cyber Criminology and the International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Tempo attempted to contact Nira via a cellular phone number with an English country code, sent emails, visited the Intellectual office in Banjarmasin, and even inquired with Muhammad Haseeb—a colleague of Nira’s at H&N Publishers. However, there was no response from Nira until Friday, July 5.

Manipulating journal correspondence was not the only issue. A source within the ULM campus revealed that there were fabricated recommendations from the university senate. The digital signature of ULM Senate Chair Muhammad Hadin Muhjad was used without his permission in these documents. Approval from the university senate is required when submitting for a professorship before an application for an academic position promotion can be processed.

Hadin confirmed that his signature was used without permission. He admitted that he only became aware of the university senate recommendation letter during the Education Ministry’s second stage of investigation. “In fact, myself and other senate members were not aware of any professorship applications from the Faculty of Law,” he said in Banjarmasin on Tuesday, June 4.

The examination of ULM professors is still ongoing. In the second week of June, the Ministry of Education wrote to ULM Rector Ahmad requesting the formation of an internal inspection team to investigate the professorship applications from the Faculty of Law.

ULM Vice Rector Iwan Aflanie confirmed the directive from the central government. He asserted that the campus internal team aims to verify the Education Ministry’s findings. “We are handling this case cautiously so that the team formed will work in accordance with justice and regulations,” said Iwan.

Dean’s Building of the Faculty of Law, Lambung Mangkurat University, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, June 4 TEMPO/Praga Utama

However, the Ministry of Education is preparing another course of action. Tempo read a letter numbered 0461/E/DT.04.01/2024 titled Follow-Up on the Integrity of Lambung Mangkurat University in South Kalimantan. The letter outlines eight recommendations for handling the professorship scandal at ULM.

The letter includes sanctions of demotion from professorship positions for 11 Faculty of Law professors. They are also required to return certification allowances and functional position allowances.

ULM Rector is also instructed to impose disciplinary sanctions on the chairperson and members of the university senate. Faculty of Law dean’s office staff Muhammad Rizki Anugerah is not exempt from punishment, as the Education Ministry requests his dismissal by ULM Rector.

Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Education’s Directorate-General of Higher Education, Lukman, confirmed the existence of the recommendation letter. “Their positions will be demoted from professorship to senior lecturer,” he said.