Univeristy deans from across the nation are to convene on Thursday and Friday to consider establishing standard operating procedures for cases of academic plagiarism.
In July last year, Retraction Watch, an academic publication watchdog blog, found that then-National Pingtung University associate professor Chen Chen-yuan (陳震遠) had exploited a loophole in the online submission process for the Journal of Vibration and Control, using it to allegedly falsify reviews for his research papers.
The journal retracted 60 papers that Chen had submitted. Another paper by Chen, submitted to the journal Natural Hazards, allegedly plagiarized Wikipedia in its foreword and used sources without citation — mainly from his own papers — elsewhere.
The journal Nature on Tuesday last week reported that the National Natural Science Foundation of China revealed the names of seven scientists who the foundation said had conducted academic misconduct by plagiarizing others, purchasing grant proposals or using false identity information.
Academia Sinica member Poo Mu-ming (蒲慕明) said the foundation was on the right track, and that its approach to uncovering and publicizing misconduct should be emulated by universities and research facilities.
“Embarrassing [perpetrators] by publicizing their names sends a strong message to wrongdoers in a nation that places significant emphasis on ‘face,’” Poo said.
Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Chien Chung-liang (錢宗良) said that ultimately, institutions hold the final say.
“It is not an effort to sidestep our responsibility; the ministry is responsible for correcting and maintaining academic integrity, but the greatest problem in dealing with the issue is that the ministry can only offer the carrot, while being unable to present the stick,” Chien said.
Even the threat of suspending eligibility for grants is simply stopping the carrot supply, Chien said, adding that it is academic institutions that can present the stick and approve or reject a professor’s promotion.
“The universities must hold the front line of maintaining standards,” Chien said.
Institutions might not entirely agree with the concept of holding a news conference to expose academic plagiarism or other misconduct — or might consider it an infringement on university prestige, but it is what the ministry should be doing, Chien said.
Chien said that he would ask that the issue of establishing proper procedures in handling such incidents be discussed in the upcoming meeting.
Commenting on the proposal, Deputy Minister of Education Chen Te-hua (陳德華) said he respected the Ministry of Science and Technology’s method of tackling the issue.
He added, however, that there are many attitudes toward academic integrity, but in cases of intentional violations, information transparency about the offender — to prevent repeat incidents — may be a good idea.
National Tsing Hua University vice president Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) agreed with the Ministry of Science and Technology’s methods, saying that past practices of prioritizing the quantity of research sometimes encouraged academics to seek advancement through “less-than-sterling methods.”
“We should return to the essence of education, the essence of academia, and seek to contribute to both education and society,” Wu said.
Academics who violate integrity standards are currently suspended from grant eligibility by the Ministry of Science and Technology, as well as blocked from promotions by the Ministry of Education, Wu said, adding, however, that the punishment is considered very light.
Repeat occurrences of such incidents are a massive blow to academic institutions, Wu said.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods