Navy Chaplains of the Russian Imperial Navy in S. N. Kopylov’s Research: A Series of Errors or Deliberate Falsification?
The review is devoted to the four articles of Postgraduate student S. N. Kopylov, which were published in some scientific journals recommended by the Higher Attestation Commission of the Russian Federation. S. N. Kopylov took on the research of a little-studied topic of the Russian naval clergymen at the turn of 19th-20th centuries, focusing on the service of naval priests in peacetime, as well as on the Protopresbyter’s personnel policy of the military and naval clergy. However, during the study of Kopylov’s articles, it turned out that the author gave a kind of free retelling of the well-known sources and already existing literature on the topic, negating the scientific originality of his works. The check of references showed that almost all of them were incorrect and citations of archival sources were falsified: the author referred to non-existent sheets, and one of the documents he mentioned was not real in fact. The reviewers have concluded that S. N. Kopylov did not adequately work with the sources and historiography, and got insufficient understanding of the naval and church specifics which led to numerous mistakes and inaccuracies in his works. This article reveals deliberate falsification of facts and “adding” sources depending on the author’s concept. Therefore, the publications reviewed do not meet the requirements of the Higher Attestation Commission, and should be withdrawn by the editors.