Scientific Integrity Group Returns to Facebook as Suddenly as It Disappeared

In an interview with the US news site Retraction Watch, the founder of the Scientific Integrity group said that the group reappeared on Facebook in the same unexpected way as it disappeared. Meta Group has yet to explain this.

Recently, the Retraction Watch news site, a blog of the Center for Scientific Integrity in the US that specializes in reporting on the retraction of scientific articles and related topics, interviewed Dr. Duong Tu, founder of the Scientific Integrity group on Facebook, about the group being temporarily deleted from Facebook. Responding to Retraction Watch, Dr. Duong Tu said that so far, the members of the Scientific Integrity management board do not know why the group was deleted from Facebook on October 23, nor why the group reappeared on the afternoon of October 27 (Vietnam time).

Interview with Dr. Duong Tu on the news site Retraction Watch

According to Dr. Duong Tu, on October 23, the Scientific Integrity group suddenly disappeared from Facebook without the administrators receiving any warning from Facebook. According to Dr. Duong Tu's guess, Facebook hid or deleted the Scientific Integrity forum because the group was attacked on a large scale. This sudden action by Facebook is extremely confusing, because the Scientific Integrity group has been operating for more than 4 years with very few warnings of violations.

Dr. Duong Tu said: "The group's management board has contacted Facebook representatives to investigate the incident and seek the possibility of restoring the group, as the Scientific Integrity Forum plays an important role in the Vietnamese scientific community. However, so far, we have not received any response. Several leading Vietnamese newspapers have also reported on the group's disappearance.

Fortunately, on the morning of October 27, the Scientific Integrity forum was restored without any notice from Facebook. We will continue to contact them to find out what happened and how to avoid a repeat of this unfortunate incident."

"We are committed to maintaining the independence of the Scientific Integrity Forum as well as avoiding bureaucratization and destroying the vitality of the group," Dr. Duong Tu shared.

Thanh Nien Newspaper also contacted Meta Group to ask about the mysterious disappearance and reappearance of the Scientific Integrity group on Facebook but has yet to receive a response.

History of the establishment of the Scientific Integrity group related to Thanh Nien Newspaper

Responding to Retraction Watch, Dr. Duong Tu said that the Scientific Integrity Group was established on September 1, 2020 after a series of investigative articles by Thanh Nien Newspaper. This series of articles exposed fraudulent behavior at a number of universities in Vietnam, where foreign authors were paid large sums of money to falsify the addresses of these schools in their publications.

This trick, which has been around for more than a decade, has helped these universities gain virtual achievements in research productivity and rankings, allowing these two units to surpass the most prestigious universities in Vietnam.

The Scientific Integrity group reappears on Facebook as mysteriously as it disappeared (screenshot from November 1)

Dr. Duong Tu said: "The investigation results of Thanh Nien Newspaper have caused heated debate among scientists, university leaders and the public. However, Thanh Nien Newspaper has faced a backlash for being accused of discrediting two universities that many people consider national pride due to their high rankings. As a researcher closely associated with the Vietnamese scientific community, I feel the need to seek the truth, because neither side in the debate has presented clearly grounded arguments."

As a result of his "truth-seeking" campaign, Dr. Duong Tu discovered evidence that the violations of integrity in the scientific environment in Vietnam were more serious than what Thanh Nien Newspaper had pointed out. He wrote an article to Thanh Nien Newspaper, presenting data showing the severity of address fraud, calling the article collectors "foreign invaders of science", emphasizing their role in corrupting Vietnamese science.

Realizing the need for collective action, Dr. Duong Tu called for support from the Vietnamese scientific community to jointly investigate and dismantle the scientific mafia network. The Scientific Integrity Group was established on the day Dr. Duong Tu’s article was published by Thanh Nien Newspaper. The group is managed by a number of volunteers, including Dr. Duong Tu.

The group operates without any funding. "The biggest cost to us is not financial but the time, effort and opportunity we have spent to maintain the group's activities. Over the past 4 years, we have invested a lot of resources to keep the group running. Although this effort could be used for consulting to make money, we are satisfied with our goals and the positive changes we have contributed to creating," said Dr. Duong Tu.

Dr. Duong Tu is a researcher at the Department of Pharmacy, Purdue University, USA. His daily work focuses on developing advanced dosage forms to enhance the stability, bioavailability and manufacturability of pharmaceutical preparations.

"As a scientist, I am constantly faced with issues related to research integrity and ethics, scientific publication and research assessment - topics that are constantly discussed in the Scientific Integrity group. To stay updated, I regularly read documents, research scientific integrity issues, and then share what I know with the community. In return, I learn a lot from other members. This two-way exchange has enriched my understanding. I feel that I have acquired a lot of knowledge about scientific integrity over the past 4 years," shared Dr. Duong Tu.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhom-liem-chinh-khoa-hoc-tro-lai-tren-facebook-cung-bat-ngo-nhu-khi-bien-mat-185241101133519382.htm