Dr. Darryll Pines University of Maryland
The system announced late Friday that an independent committee found "no evidence of misconduct" by Pines after examining claims that he plagiarized sections of research papers published in 2002 and 2006. The investigation, led by the law firm Ropes & Gray, spanned three rounds of review over the course of a year.
In a joint statement, Board of Regents Chair Linda Gooden, Chancellor Jay Perman, and Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development Michele Masucci wrote that Pines "immediately and appropriately recused himself from the process and cooperated fully with the investigation" after the allegations emerged through news reports in September 2024.
The review extended beyond the two papers in question to examine other journal articles and works authored by Pines throughout his academic career.
While the committee cleared Pines of misconduct, it acknowledged finding "select portions of text previously published by another author" in the introductory sections of the papers. The committee also identified a "discrepancy in assignment of authorship" in a separate work, though investigators determined Pines was not responsible for either issue.
The allegations first surfaced in a September 2024 article by the conservative outlet Daily Wire, which claimed that a 1,500-word section of a 5,000-word research article co-authored by Pines was taken from a website created by then-doctoral student Joshua Altmann.
Pines addressed the accusations the following day in a letter to faculty, stating, "While I do not believe there is merit to these claims, an impartial review is in the best interest of the university."
