Thai universities investigated over alleged research plagiarism

[snoop1130]

 

Prompting concerns over the integrity of education, the Thai Bureau of Higher Learning, Scientific Enquiry, and Research Innovation (MHESI) have launched legal action against around five online portals that have been found dealing in academic plagiarism. The move comes following suspicions that close to 100 scholars linked to 33 universities may have obtained research papers from the Internet.

 

The Deputy Secretary of MHESI, Supachai Pathumnakul, reported that an investigation of 109 scholars for alleged academic plagiarism has been set in motion. Yesterday’s update showed evidence of nine academics having bought research manuscripts from cyberspace, whilst another 21 have been exonerated thus far.

 

“We are carrying out investigations on the rest.”

 

The alarm was sounded when a cluster of university lecturers emerged, churning out research works outside their expertise, all within a remarkably short period. This prompted orders from the authorities for these 33 nationwide universities to probe into the originality of their faculty’s work.

 

The Deputy Secretary expressed disappointment in the lackadaisical attitude of eight of these universities towards identifying the issue. He urgently called upon educational institutions to speed up the investigation process and apply stern sanctions to those found involved in academic plagiarism.

 

By Mitch Connor

Caption: Deputy Secretary of MHESI Supachai Pathumnakul says university professors are being investigated for purchasing research papers online. (via eng.kku.ac.th)

 

Full Story: https://thethaiger.com/news/national/thai-universities-under-investigation-over-alleged-online-research-plagiarism

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-08-04

 

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[Artisi]

Nothing new, just means it can now be done easily, no more wasting time reading all the previous research for copy and paste, you now just ask AI to do it for you. 

[John Drake]

I wonder how much these faculty members paid. A few years ago, the going rate for Chinese faculty to purchase Q1 published articles in English was US$50,000.  That was eight or nine years ago. The other trick in China was simply for academics to take other people's published work, put their name on it, and send it to a different journal. Thai universities don't really do much international research, especially outside of medicine. That's why they rate so low in international rankings. 

[Seamaster]

3 minutes ago, John Drake said:

ne. That's why they rate so low in international rankings

Bejing university a poor ranking? Are you also lumping in Hong Kong universities? Curious.

[John Drake]

6 minutes ago, Seamaster said:

Bejing university a poor ranking? Are you also lumping in Hong Kong universities? Curious.

No, I said nothing about Chinese university rankings. My comment was about the low rankings of Thai universities. China is ambitious to create good universities. And the ones in Hong Kong already were well regarded--at least before the PRC crackdown. But Chinese academics were also desperate, which is why their promotions and incentive payments have been tied to publication in Q1 journals, which are primarily English language. If you're interested, you can check here: https://www.scimagojr.com/

 

And here is some interesting information about the development of research in Chinese universities: https://www.scimagojr.com/countrysearch.php?country=CN

Edited August 4, 2023 by John Drake

[CartagenaWarlock]

37 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

The alarm was sounded when a cluster of university lecturers emerged, churning out research works outside their expertise, all within a remarkably short period. This prompted orders from the authorities for these 33 nationwide universities to probe into the originality of their faculty’s work.

Only in Thailand. Research outside the area of expertise was confined to YouTube videos and some conspirator's imagination that other people proudly proclaimed as "I did my research", implying that they watched a few similar YouTube videos. In Thailand now academicians are engaged in similar type of research.  

[mfd101]

39 minutes ago, CartagenaWarlock said:

Only in Thailand. Research outside the area of expertise was confined to YouTube videos and some conspirator's imagination that other people proudly proclaimed as "I did my research", implying that they watched a few similar YouTube videos. In Thailand now academicians are engaged in similar type of research.  

In Thailand (some) professors do what elsewhere (many) students do.

[CartagenaWarlock]

5 hours ago, mfd101 said:

In Thailand (some) professors do what elsewhere (many) students do.

When I was a MS and PhD student, I had to do real research. I could not summarize a few YouTube videos only to get my MS and PhD. 

[hotchilli]

11 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The move comes following suspicions that close to 100 scholars linked to 33 universities may have obtained research papers from the Internet.

Plagiarism Thailand... nah

[fdimike]

Plagiarism in Thailand?  Come on get real.  Just like no prostitution in Pattaya 555.  I recall speaking with a former student of mine who told me flat out she bought a research paper because she had no time to do the work herself.  

[RichardColeman]

Just wait till the students start handing in their AI.. created homework

[Artisi]

29 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Just wait till the students start handing in their AI.. created homework

They are already. 

[Messy Link]

This is happening for years. Not even surprised. 

[mikebell]

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Plagiarism Thailand... nah

Copying is what Thais do best.  Stroll down Kao San Road to see the results.  Schools do not teach independent thought but slavish toeing the line.  My niece had to do a twelve page piece on French Impressionists.  She used my computer so I inserted a piece about Monsieur Banksie. She never noticed nor did the teacher; she got an A grade.

[Falcon]

What does it matter really? Here in thailand, it’s impossible to be registered with a university and not come out with a degree. That’s why the Thai degrees are considered next to useless on the international work scene. My son has just started university, only because his mom and the Thai side of the family said that he should go. He hates it and really cannot be bothered with the school. It’s supposed to be an international university, there are, however, no foreign teachers, except for an Indian who no one can understand and a Filipino who drones on and on about nothing. All the rest are Thai and gallop through everything without a care whether the students can understand or not. AI is great for the homework, actually explains things a damn site better than any of the teachers. University in thailand is, in my opinion, a complete waste of 4 years and to come out with a piece of paper after that time which is nigh on useless anywhere out of thailand just isn’t worth the time or effort.

[AustinRacing]

It’s about self pride which is not a common value in most Asian countries. It’s about having something and how you get it is not important. 

[Brickleberry]

Isn't this an annual story? It's not just the academics who are plagiarizing, how many MPs have been caught claiming they have advanced degrees from diploma mills abroad? 

[scorecard]

On 8/4/2023 at 5:34 PM, Artisi said:

Nothing new, just means it can now be done easily, no more wasting time reading all the previous research for copy and paste, you now just ask AI to do it for you. 

I saw some of this when I was lecturing, with a twist.

 

Ph.D. candidates simply copying extremely simple survey work, perhaps even conducted by several people. 'Bundle' it together and submit it as a Ph.D. submission. The worst was a survey about the populative of vehicles designed/manufactured in Europe. Problem was the 'finding' of the survey was based one 1 (one) completed survey. And the questions were 'loaded' rather then 'open' questions.

 

I was asked (by e.mail) to check about 15 proposed submissions and comment.

 

For every proposed submission I commented that the work was totally unsuitable, didn't follow Thai or international standards on how research should be structured, hadn't followed recognised research protocols,  produced nothing of great insight and was very poorly structured in terms of flow and focus.

 

I recommended that these and furure Ph.D. candidates attend perhaps 3 or 4 lectures to be conducted by 2 lecturers (in team teaching t) to give the current and future candidates a much better understaning of what Ph.D. means and how to prepare and present suitable work. 

 

The professor who sent me the original e.mail was shocked and insulted and commented "Why didn't you rewrite the 'work' for the candidates".

 

My response "That would mean that the new content / presentations wasn't the work of the candidates which would be totally unacceptable".

 

She didn't respond.

Edited August 5, 2023 by scorecard

[kwilco]

It seemed to me over the past 20 years teaching in universities that it was quite common for people to be employed by a university as a lecturer on the basis they were writing a PhD.

This was usually just a compilation of plagiarised material and Google.

I've proof read - or tried to - a few theses and most seemed to fall way short of what I'd  consider to be PhD material. 

The problem is so ingrained in Thai academic life it leaves me wondering how it could ever be resolved.

 

As a foot note, I think it's worth mentioning that it isn't just those producing the PhDs that are at fault, it is those who are accepting or accrediting  them.

The damage may not be apparent initially, but when you consider that these oeople may become medical practitioners , scientists or architects etc etc there is a potential danger to human life through this apparent lack of any real meticulous academic integrity.

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by kwilco

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, kwilco said:

It seemed to me over the past 20 years teaching in universities that it was quite common for people to be employed by a university as a lecturer on the basis they were writing a PhD.

This was usually just a compilation of plagiarised material and Google.

I've proof read - or tried to - a few theses and most seemed to fall way short of what I'd  consider to be PhD material. 

The problem is so ingrained in Thai academic life it leaves me wondering how it could ever be resolved.

 

As a foot note, I think it's worth mentioning that it isn't just those producing the PhDs that are at fault, it is those who are accepting or accrediting  them.

The damage may not be apparent initially, but when you consider that these oeople may become medical practitioners , scientists or architects etc etc there is a potential danger to human life through this apparent lack of any real meticulous academic integrity.

 

Agree, there's also the aspect of high value, the thesis should introduce something which:

-Is new thinking  / innovate and will, if implemented improve life / improve health / improve the way treatment is delivered etc.

-Or, is a previously unseen high value addition to something in existence.

 

 

You mention "...apparent lack of any real meticulous academic integrity.", and "apparent lack of any real meticulous academic integrity." South of the LOS there's positive examples of this. I'm aware of situations where staff (employed to be very highly innovative by developing cyber interventions) were submitting conceptual ideas which weren't 'explored' because the uni involved struggled to find / put together a dissertation committee from across the world who were capable of analysing /critiquing the submitted work. The uni involved realized that it was not appropriate that the work 'sit and rot' so they went public with a result that a number of peers of the candidate offered to become a committe and their discussion proved to the uni that they were capable of quality analysis / quality critique of the idea submitted.

 

On the other hand I've seen / listened to local dissertation committees who just accepting the submitted work from the candidate and 'passing it' because it was submitted. The worst example was the son of the lead of the dissertation committee submitted a very simple idea but it was instantly 'passed' to please the committee leader. Attempts to say that there as no unseen value were quickly silenced. 

 

But some level of the above happens in many universities.

 

 

[bignok]

On 8/5/2023 at 3:50 AM, CartagenaWarlock said:

When I was a MS and PhD student, I had to do real research. I could not summarize a few YouTube videos only to get my MS and PhD. 

Are you rich? If not point proven.

[jacko45k]

20 hours ago, mikebell said:

Copying is what Thais do best.  Stroll down Kao San Road to see the results.  Schools do not teach independent thought but slavish toeing the line.  My niece had to do a twelve page piece on French Impressionists.  She used my computer so I inserted a piece about Monsieur Banksie. She never noticed nor did the teacher; she got an A grade.

AI can probably write a good paper for them too!

[bignok]

4 hours ago, kwilco said:

It seemed to me over the past 20 years teaching in universities that it was quite common for people to be employed by a university as a lecturer on the basis they were writing a PhD.

This was usually just a compilation of plagiarised material and Google.

I've proof read - or tried to - a few theses and most seemed to fall way short of what I'd  consider to be PhD material. 

The problem is so ingrained in Thai academic life it leaves me wondering how it could ever be resolved.

 

As a foot note, I think it's worth mentioning that it isn't just those producing the PhDs that are at fault, it is those who are accepting or accrediting  them.

The damage may not be apparent initially, but when you consider that these oeople may become medical practitioners , scientists or architects etc etc there is a potential danger to human life through this apparent lack of any real meticulous academic integrity.

 

Doctors just look at computer screen for drugs recommended

[Artisi]

42 minutes ago, bignok said:

Doctors just look at computer screen for drugs recommended

Rightfully so as medical doctors are not pharmacist. Many medical doctors can be very weak on real drug knowledge and rely on others or our of date information when prescribing. 

 

 

[bignok]

Just now, Artisi said:

Rightfully so as medical doctors are not pharmacist. Many medical doctors can be very weak on real drug knowledge and rely on others or our of date information when prescribing. 

 

 

So why does the west insist you talk to a dr first?

[Hanuman2547]

This has been going on for over 30 years.  No surprise at all.

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, bignok said:

Doctors just look at computer screen for drugs recommended

Sure but 99% of medical 'doctors' are not Ph.D. holders.

 

They complete an advanced / specialized degree MBBS which is way under a Ph.D. However by long standing protocols they are given the courtesy title of 'doctor'.

 

A Ph.D. candidate must complete rigorous research and typically it relates to something peviously unseen / unknown.

 

MBBS candidates learn what is already known and well proven and in 99% of cases prescribe medicines that are created from long-term research conducted by a pharma. company, not by the local doctor. 

[Artisi]

3 hours ago, bignok said:

So why does the west insist you talk to a dr first?

Why would you think? 

Might be something like the drug /medical cartel ensuring drug sales are maintained at the appropriate levels. 

[kimamey]

3 hours ago, bignok said:

So why does the west insist you talk to a dr first?

I assume it's because you can't prescribe without knowing what you're prescribing for.

[Artisi]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

Sure but 99% of medical 'doctors' are not Ph.D. holders.

 

They complete an advanced / specialized degree MBBS which is way under a Ph.D. However by long standing protocols they are given the courtesy title of 'doctor'.

 

A Ph.D. candidate must complete rigorous research and typically it relates to something peviously unseen / unknown.

 

MBBS candidates learn what is already known and well proven and in 99% of cases prescribe medicines that are created from long-term research conducted by a pharma. company, not by the local doctor. 

Interesting comment.

A few years back I edited, advised and corrected a paper prepared by a PhD in pharmacy for a journal publication, the subject was the decisions and the appropriateness of the drug selections for use in the government hospitals in xxxxx province. The outcome was quite disturbing, for the smaller hospitals the decision was made  by the senior Dr - this highlighted the perceived problem, in the majority of cases the drug selection was way out of date in a few instances years out of date.

In the major hospital /s with a pharmacy dept the head pharmacist made the decisions and the current upto date / best choice. 

 

It was an interesting and informative read. 

Edited August 6, 2023 by Artisi