As Thanh Nien reported, in a recent scientific conference organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Training, leaders of the two ministries realized that it was time for state management agencies to step in to resolve the current outstanding issues in scientific integrity. However, how to step in and how to resolve them are still open questions.
Scientists at a workshop on scientific integrity organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education and Training
" HISTORICAL FACTORS" OF THE CONCEPT OF SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY
According to scientists, there are currently many conflicting views in the scientific community when defining the connotation of the concept of LCKH. This is a cultural and historical concept. There are behaviors that at this stage may be considered dishonest, but in the previous stage they may have been… normal (or acceptable to the scientific community).
At the above-mentioned workshop, Professor Hoang Anh Tuan, Principal of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi, said that more than 30 years ago, when he entered the research profession (1995 - 1999), many professors (even in the academic environment of developed countries) still had a simple concept about publishing scientific works.
"So now we look back at some things, using the current context to see, we see many things out of phase, because of the out of phase, many things become tragedies. (...) Saying that to see that there are problems that perhaps need to be shared, need to be recognized and placed in a historical context would be better. The important thing is that we aim for what we want to build", said Professor Hoang Anh Tuan.
According to Professor Nguyen Xuan Hung, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (Hutech), young scientists in Vietnam face many difficulties on their journey to pursue scientific research. Hutech University also issued regulations on scientific research in April 2023, but implementing those regulations is actually extremely difficult, because a lecturer has to do many different jobs, now they have to learn the whole process, everything takes a lot of time. Therefore, there needs to be sharing, love, to develop together.
Mr. Tran Hong Thai, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, also agreed with the view that there should be civilized and cultural behavior in the process of building LCKH. The relevant subjects are the intellectuals and teachers, but without investigation and evidence, their names have not been mentioned, affecting each scientist and the scientific community.
BUILDING A CULTURE OF SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY
Professor Phung Ho Hai, Institute of Mathematics, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, said that the reality of the struggle for scientific knowledge in recent times has shown that there are some painful things that must be accepted. "In the mathematics community, there are people who sell terrible articles, collect a lot of money, they ignore and disregard the rest. The problem now is not to let others follow those people. Do not let young people follow that path. Scientific culture lies in the fact that students will learn from their teachers, if the teachers are bad, the students will be bad. So we must build a scientific culture," said Professor Hai.
According to Dr. Duong Tu, Purdue University, USA, in a social environment with many integrity issues like ours, scientists should act as role models of honesty and integrity as an academic duty to restore public trust in science and inspire society. If scientists abandon this responsibility, abandon this opportunity, they will be at fault with those who sponsor their scientific research.
Professor Phung Ho Hai, Institute of Mathematics, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology
A LEGAL FRAMEWORK IS NEEDED
According to Associate Professor Nguyen Tai Dong, Institute of Philosophy, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, we have many regulations in the law, decrees, regulations of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education and Training, of many schools, many magazines... It's just that we don't have the whole picture.
According to Associate Professor Dong, it is necessary to study and determine the construction of major principles, universal regulations and a set of common indicators or criteria on LCKH. This is mandatory. If there is such a common hat, then units, research facilities, universities, and journals can build their own. Associate Professor Nguyen Tai Dong also proposed the need to build a number of pioneering, leading units to lead, similar to the State Supervisory Council and the NAFOSTED Fund.
Associate Professor Tran Anh Tuan, Chief of Office of the State Council of Professors, said that although the Ministry of Education and Training has issued Decree 109, which assigns universities to proactively issue regulations and take responsibility for academic integrity, it is still necessary for the ministry or higher level to issue a general regulation on the code of conduct or LCKH. On that basis, schools and institutes will have a basis to detail their regulations, especially regarding sanctions.
Many questions need to be answered soon
According to Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Hong Thai, currently the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education and Training need the Vietnamese scientific community to help identify which phenomena can be said to violate the Law on Science and Technology, and gradually form the concept of the Law on Science and Technology. The Law on Science and Technology, the Law on Education, and the Law on Higher Education all have provisions on integrity. But integrity is not only within the scope of law but also culture and ethics. "So which issues are legal and which issues are cultural? Is it necessary to change the legal regulations on the Law on Science and Technology? What should be changed? These are questions that need to be answered soon. Currently, the Ministry of Science and Technology is advising the Government on preparing a project to build a law amending the Law on Science and Technology. This is the time to receive opinions so that the issue of the Law on Science and Technology can be deeply integrated into the law," said Mr. Thai.
Sharing with Thanh Nien and on the LCKH forum, Dr. Duong Tu expressed his concern that there is currently no specialized department on LCKH, so in the near future there will be no one to continue to deploy and implement the directives of relevant ministries. "This is part of the reason why I think Vietnam should establish a Vietnam Office of Research Integrity (VORI), similar to many countries such as the US, UK, China, France, and the Netherlands with real LCKH experts: continuously updating and sharing knowledge and information on research integrity with the scientific community; providing professional opinions when integrity issues arise; inspecting, checking, and supervising the assurance of LCKH at research units, limiting units from covering up for their people; handling complaints and denunciations of integrity violations when necessary.
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