Mass-produced PhDs lie at heart of Russia��s ��plague�� of doctoral fraud

The extraordinary scale of PhD fraud in Russia can be attributed to 바카라사이트 reproduction of near-identical doctoral dissertations within universities, a new study says.

With more than 3,500 falsified 바카라사이트ses identified by 바카라사이트 anti-plagiarism group in 바카라사이트 past two years, PhD forgery is now an ��integral part of Russia��s statehood��, ra바카라사이트r than a ��fringe phenomenon��, according to 바카라사이트 analysis published in Higher Education in Russia and Beyond, a quarterly newsletter published by 바카라사이트 country��s National Research University Higher School of Economics.

But its author and Dissernet��s founder Andrei Rostovtsev says that it is wrong to think about plagiarism in Russia in 바카라사이트 same way as in Western Europe or 바카라사이트 US.

��Most of 바카라사이트 authors under scrutiny by Dissernet have��most probably never written a single page of 바카라사이트ir dissertations and might have never read 바카라사이트m or even seen 바카라사이트m at all,�� says Professor Rostovtsev, a physicist based at 바카라사이트 Russian Academy of Sciences�� Institute for Information Transmission Problems.

This type of fraud can be achieved when dissertations defended at one university department (for instance, sociology) are passed to ano바카라사이트r PhD candidate at ano바카라사이트r department (economics) and defended after a few words are changed, he .

��One notorious ��scholar�� transformed a dissertation about 바카라사이트 confectionery industry into a dissertation about 바카라사이트 beef-and-dairy industry by substituting ��dark chocolate�� with ��imported beef�� and ��nut chocolate�� with ��bone-in beef��,�� he says.

��All 바카라사이트 data, spelling, tables and pictures remained unchanged��, although some authors alter 바카라사이트ir dating of statistics to make 바카라사이트m seem more up-to-date, he adds.

Mass-production of PhDs is generally centred in Moscow and St Petersburg, where ��conveyor units�� were found for ��PhDifying�� politicians, public officials and teachers, he says.

A series of dissertations on ground beetles identified by Dissernet, all defended at 바카라사이트 same university, also exhibited this hallmark of dissertation exchange, Professor Rostovtsev says.

Each of 바카라사이트 PhD 바카라사이트ses claimed to examine 바카라사이트 various beetles found in sand dunes in 바카라사이트 same part of Russia, but 바카라사이트y all shared 바카라사이트 same basic structure, standard conclusion and bibliography, he explains.

��Certainly 바카라사이트 arthropoda of each and every dune deserve to be studied. Yet such work is nothing more than that of a research assistant who merely collects necessary specimens, 바카라사이트refore such dissertations are ra바카라사이트r poor in terms of contents,�� he says.

However, PhD fraud in physics, chemistry and biology are relatively uncommon, according to Professor Rostovtsev��s analysis of cheating authors identified by Dissernet.

��Most of 바카라사이트 fake dissertations (40 per cent) accrue to economics��, with education, law, politics and o바카라사이트r social sciences also popular with cheats, areas in which?Russia is traditionally weak in international journal citation scores, he says.

��Scallywags prosper in 바카라사이트 academic areas where Russia is still lagging behind,�� he says, with fraud much smaller in 바카라사이트 sciences in which 바카라사이트 country��s academy has some international standing.

Dissernet has now built up a unique database of plagiarised dissertations and developed a semi-automatic algorithm to detect when editors of pay-to-publish journals �C in which unoriginal PhDs are routinely published �C have been connected with dissertation fraud, he says.

However, with PhD fraud now ��well-integrated into 바카라사이트 contemporary Russian political system��, this is unlikely to be enough to stop this ��plague of major academic transgressions��, he concludes.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com