There are many conflicting opinions surrounding the topic of whether scientists publishing research at other units violate academic integrity? (Photo: HH)
Is publication anywhere a contribution?
Sharing with Dan Tri reporter about the case of Associate Professor Dr. Dinh Cong Huong who is being accused of violating scientific integrity when publishing many articles under the names of 2 other universities where he works, Mathematician Dr. Le Thong Nhat frankly stated: "I have not seen anything wrong yet?".
Mr. Nhat shared his concerns that in reality, in order to live and research, many scientists have to find ways to "sell" their brainpower.
He himself often sells his brainpower to earn money to take care of his family. This is a form of selling to schools in need and scientists are rewarded.
"This is very clear, there is a contract, the author's name is still there, only the name of the school is written. I think there is nothing wrong. Both the supply and demand sides," Dr. Nhat frankly said.
Dr. Le Thong Nhat said that there is nothing wrong with scientists publishing research under the name of another organization (Photo: NV).
He admitted that some people even sell the author's name, and this is the wrong thing to do.
"Some people have to sell their author's name, of course they have to get a good price. Poverty makes scientists have to continue. I feel so sorry and hurt," said Mr. Nhat.
According to this doctor, once the assigned tasks at the organic unit have been completed, researchers can completely cooperate with different units.
In response to the question that many people think this behavior is aiding "fake" achievements and "inflating" university rankings, a current problem, Dr. Nhat said that this is a way to build a brand.
Scientific research, he explained, is never limited to one unit.
"When it comes to scientific research, publishing in any unit is a contribution. The important thing is to know how to balance money to invest in scientific research. When a scientific work is born, it is a contribution to humanity, not to a particular unit or country?", he asked.
Things are only condemnable when someone sells articles to someone else or when people spend money buying scientific research to get promoted, to be awarded professor, associate professor... Thus, the person selling the new work is aiding and abetting fraud.
He told a story about a few decades ago when he participated in building a famous private school in Hanoi, he had to travel everywhere to "bring" good students to raise, give scholarships, invite good teachers to teach to build a brand...
From there, it helps the school become famous quickly, attract students and gradually grow stronger. Not every unit invests money in scientific research.
Regarding the story of Associate Professor Dr. Dinh Cong Huong, public opinion once again discussed the disproportionate income and remuneration paid for scientific research in Vietnam.
"Not everyone, even those with capacity, has the opportunity to participate in scientific projects (state level, ministry level, school level) that are funded. Even if they can participate, the process is complicated and the funding is low.
"If a scientist can do research but the unit cannot meet the conditions and resources to do it, while another unit is willing to invest resources but cannot do it, that is a waste. For those who want to improve their lives, selling their brainpower is a great way to make money," said Mr. Le Thong Nhat.
Number of publications in prestigious international journals of Vietnam in the period 2018-2022 (Source: Ministry of Education and Training).
The head of a member unit of Thai Nguyen University also shared that he "turned his hair gray" to "retain" talent.
"In Thai Nguyen, the income of lecturers is low, while it only takes them more than 1 hour to go to Hanoi and they are paid 2-3 times higher, even many times higher. Therefore, I have been "working my head off" to think of ways to hope that good lecturers will stay and teach," this person said.
This person also frankly shared that after lecturers complete their work well at the unit, he is willing to create conditions for them to work with other universities to earn more income.
"If I push them too hard, they will leave the school. Therefore, I always create the best conditions possible in the hope that they will continue to stay and contribute," said the leader.
Don't promote "fake" achievements.
In a scientific forum on social networks, many debates were raised around the topic of whether scientists accusing the sale of research papers violated academic integrity or not.
Besides the opinions of sharing and sympathy, there is another perspective that we should not consider the buying and selling of scientific articles without mentioning the name of the school where we work but the paying unit as normal.
The issue of publishing units needs to be raised in the context that many educational institutions are using tricks of buying articles to raise university rankings, tricks of bypassing accreditation to achieve "international quality".
This makes society no longer know what is real and what is virtual; leading to the glorification of organizations and individuals with fake "virtual achievements".
The issue of "bread and butter" for researchers needs to be resolved, but we cannot use the method of "buying and selling" or "transferring" research projects to make money, that is a danger to the whole system.
Others have argued that there needs to be a serious discussion, with compelling arguments about scientific integrity, to bring about consensus across the system.
State Council of Professors requests clarification on posting articles under the name of other agencies
Since 2020, the State Council of Professors has sent requests to industry and interdisciplinary professor councils to unify solutions to a number of issues when considering recognition of candidates who meet the standards of professors and associate professors.
In particular, the State Council of Professors requires the councils to interview candidates to clarify the reasons for posting articles under the name of an agency other than the agency they are working for.
The press also reported the phenomenon of creating fake achievements in scientific research. Specifically, some schools are willing to pay scientists to publish their place of work in their own units.
It is worth mentioning that there are scientists who have never worked, researched or conducted scientific activities at the unit that published scientific research.
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