If proposed new regulations are approved, researchers who have papers ghostwritten would need to return their government funding, because the draft would classify the practice as misconduct, Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) said on Monday last week.
The ministry last month proposed draft amendments to its Guidelines for Handling and Investigating Research Misconduct (學術倫理案件處理及審議要點), which governs researchers’ applications to the ministry for project funding or academic awards.
Having a paper ghostwritten is a breach of research ethics and investigations would be able to go back 10 years, the draft says.
Legislators across parties continue to be concerned over the prevalence of university students in Taiwan using thesis ghostwriters.
At a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee last year, Legislator Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸), then of the New Power Party, questioned the practice, saying that it costs about NT$120,000 to hire a ghostwriter and that students can require that the thesis be written by a professor or someone with a master’s degree.
Hung asked how the ministry would tackle the problem of research funded by the government being written by ghostwriters.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) at the time urged the ministry to implement penalties for project leaders who hire ghostwriters.
From January to June, 11 researchers were punished for misconduct, mostly for plagiarism, fabrications and falsifications, the ministry said.
Among them, eight researchers were banned from applying for ministry funding for one to five years, three were given a warning and one needed to return NT$600,000 in funding, it added.
Researchers with a record of misconduct would first be investigated by their institutions, which are responsible for supervising them, the ministry said.
The ministry said that following an investigation, it would convene a task force of at least three members from the researcher’s field, or experts in related fields, to review the institution’s report, adding that instances of grave misconduct would be further examined by its ethics review committee.
A retroactive investigation of misconduct should be conducted within 10 years, but this does not apply in cases with ongoing funding or those that could jeopardize public interests or safety, it added.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the