Ge Lixiong
The Global Times has recently launched an academic discussion on anti-corruption, which is a good thing for the benefit of the country and the people. Academic corruption refers to the use of power, money, or other material or moral resources to obtain academic results, academic reputation, academic status, or other academic-related benefits for oneself or others by illegal or improper means. Corruption in society, especially in government departments and officials in charge of research, scholarship and education, is an external cause of the spread of academic corruption. Academic corruption is becoming more and more intense, and it is also an inevitable reflection of social corruption. If the party and the government do not fundamentally curb and punish corruption, it will be impossible to eliminate academic corruption or reduce it to a minimum.
Under China's current system, the vast majority of scientific research institutes and schools are public, and they are all under the guidance and management of the party and government departments, and they cannot escape the influence of those in charge of power and funding. Once these departments and personnel are corrupt, it is generally difficult to refuse attempts to exchange power and money for academic achievements, academic status or academic reputation. Even private units do not enjoy complete freedom in scientific research or running schools, and are also subject to corrupt elements in the competent authorities and corrupt behaviors of society.
In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in total funding for research and education, and most of this increase has been concentrated in the hands of authorities and officials, who have grown in power without the necessary oversight. Similarly, within research institutes and schools, the management of power and funds is concentrated in the hands of a small number of leaders and administrative departments, and the power is increased without effective supervision, which has led to the phenomenon of "administrativeization" that has been criticized in recent years.
On the other hand, the unrealistic targets and requirements of the competent authorities have put the leaders of colleges and universities under tremendous pressure, such as requiring them to formulate a timetable for achieving world-class and domestic leadership, and to make "military orders" for obtaining funds, awards, doctoral programs, and key disciplines. This drives university leaders to increase the demands of their superiors, take the lead in fraud, encourage or even cover up academic misconduct, and cater to or participate in academic corruption. A small number of them take advantage of the opportunity or engage in corrupt activities on their own initiative.
The deficiencies of the system and institutions also prevent academic corruption from being investigated and dealt with in a timely manner and effectively punished. For example, discipline inspection departments often refuse to accept reports of academic corruption on the grounds that it is difficult to define academic issues. Although the Ministry of Education has recently set up a coordination group for the construction of the style of study, the scope of investigation and punishment is limited to the colleges and universities directly under it. Generally speaking, academic corruption and academic misconduct can only be investigated and confirmed by the academic committee of the unit, and even party and government leaders are not handed over to a third party for supervision, which in fact cannot be fair and transparent. The committees on academic norms (or the construction of academic ethics and style of study) have either not yet been established, or they are non-existent, and most of them have limited powers.
To curb academic corruption in colleges and universities, we can start from the following aspects.
The government must draw up clear and feasible plans for the development of scientific research and education, set specific goals for different stages, and ensure them in the form of laws and regulations, which cannot be arbitrarily changed by the will of the governors. On this basis, adequate funding is ensured and disbursed on time and in accordance with the amount.
Give the necessary autonomy to scientific research and universities, ensure the independence and dignity of scientific and academic research, and ensure that normal scientific research and teaching are not subject to outside interference. Governments at all levels and all units must seek truth from facts about the development goals of scientific research and education, not count on the great leap forward, and must not blindly compare themselves with each other. Moreover, do not simply link the titles, treatment, and status of scientific research and teaching personnel with projects, funds, and achievements, and do not "force good people to become prostitutes". Unrealistic indicators can be abolished, such as the requirement that graduate students publish their theses in the semester can be replaced by phased theses passing the defense or appraisal, and undergraduate students' graduation theses can adopt diverse and pragmatic requirements.
The establishment of mechanisms to ensure academic independence, such as the Academic Council, the Academic Degree Committee, the Professors' Committee, and the Academic Standards (or Academic Style Construction) Committee, should play a full role under the guidance of regulations formulated in advance and democratically adopted, and should not be subject to the orders of the leadership or administrative departments. Only by thoroughly eliminating administrative corruption in the system of colleges and universities can we truly eliminate academic corruption.