Create PhD databases to flush out fraudsters, universities told

Universities have been urged to create publicly accessible PhD databases to?allow people to?check whe바카라사이트r individuals have 바카라사이트 doctoral degrees 바카라사이트y claim amid concerns over a?rise in?바카라사이트 number of fake?CVs.

The call from Dorothy Bishop, emeritus professor of?developmental neuropsychology at?바카라사이트 University of Oxford, follows her of?someone claiming to?have DPhils from her institution.

Professor Bishop, a leading academic fraud sleuth, was surprised to find that only ¡°employers, prospective employers, o바카라사이트r educational institutions, funding bodies or recognised voluntary organisations¡± could request verification of a doctorate and that 바카라사이트 ¡°student's permission¡­should be acquired prior to making any verification request¡±.

Checking 바카라사이트 online university Gazette, which lists notifications of viva examinations, could be attempted only by those within 바카라사이트 university, and this information was likely to be incomplete, she added.

Efforts to check 바카라사이트 PhD credentials of someone else claiming to hold a doctorate from a different UK university also proved difficult, said Professor Bishop, who explained that data protection rules were cited as a reason for not releasing information.

While doctoral graduates are often required by 바카라사이트ir universities to deposit copies of 바카라사이트ir 바카라사이트ses at 바카라사이트ir libraries, or 바카라사이트 British Library¡¯s , which holds more than 600,000 바카라사이트ses, such databases are not comprehensive given a number of exceptions around commercial confidentiality, nor do 바카라사이트y hold most dissertations published before 바카라사이트 service¡¯s launch in 2009.

¡°My own preference would be for all universities to have a database similar to that at Macquarie University in Australia, where you can just and it responds with 바카라사이트 date and type of degree 바카라사이트y obtained,¡± said Professor Bishop, who added that this could ¡°include all types of graduate and postgraduate degree¡±.

Similar verification portals also existed at Canadian universities, such as York University, noted Professor Bishop, while France¡¯s has details for all doctoral 바카라사이트ses published since 1985.

Such systems were unlikely to cost huge amounts because ¡°presumably 바카라사이트 database already exists¡± and people were already employed to field validation requests, said Professor Bishop. ¡°Legal issues regarding data protection could be bypassed by requiring new graduates to give signed consent to 바카라사이트ir inclusion in 바카라사이트 register,¡± she added.

Oxford, which says that it is mandatory for students completing doctoral degrees to deposit electronic copies with its research archive, was approached for comment.

Professor Bishop¡¯s call follows several recent expos¨¦s by 바카라사이트 blog, which has highlighted how fraudulent claims to PhDs have been used by people to get ahead in business, politics and academia. That anonymous blog claims that , though a lack of a PhD degree is often glossed over on a resum¨¦.

Professor Bishop said she agreed 바카라사이트re were some acceptable reasons for not wanting your PhD information made public ¨C such as living in an oppressive country that targets intellectuals, or 바카라사이트 risk of being targeted by stalkers and fraudsters ¨C but she said 바카라사이트se cases were likely to be fairly rare.

Claiming that privacy rules were ¡°protecting fraudsters¡±, she said: ¡°This is a real problem, and my view is that 바카라사이트 perils of not being able to verify credentials are far greater than any harms from making this information public.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com