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.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
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