Pan Sophia Jui-An, Chou Chien
National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Sci Eng Ethics. 2020 Jun;26(3):1499-1530. doi: 10.1007/s11948-020-00180-x. Epub 2020 Jan 24.
In 2014, SAGE Publications retracted 60 articles authored by Taiwanese researchers due to suspected peer-review fraud. This scandal led to the resignation of the Minister of Education at the time since he coauthored several retracted works. Issues regarding the lack of transparent decision-making processes regarding authorship were further disclosed. Motivated by the scandal, we believe that this is one of the first empirical studies of questionable authorship practices (QAPs) in East Asian academia; we investigate Taiwanese researchers' perceptions of QAPs. To meet this purpose, a self-reported survey was developed. Four hundred and three local researchers, including research faculty (e.g., professors), postdoctoral researchers, and Ph.D. students, participated in the survey. Four major findings resulted. First, the underlying causes of Taiwanese doctoral students' engagement in QAPs were attributable to their desire to achieve particular academic-related successes and their feeling of reciprocal obligation to support other researchers. Second, the underlying motives for Taiwanese research associates' (i.e., research faculty and postdoctoral fellows) engagement in QAPs were attributable to their attempts to achieve particular career successes and of the desire to consolidate their professional networks. Third, the participants generally agreed that QAPs had a long history among local academics but were rarely reported. Fourth, participants' backgrounds (i.e., research discipline, academic rank, and type of affiliations) had significant effects on their responses regarding particular authorship issues; however, their gender did not have a significant effect. QAPs are a critical issue in Taiwanese academia; therefore, we discussed the implications of the current findings including subsequent instruction and future research.
2014年，SAGE出版社撤回了60篇由台湾研究人员撰写的文章，原因是涉嫌同行评审欺诈。这一丑闻导致当时的教育部长辞职，因为他是几篇被撤回文章的共同作者。关于作者身份缺乏透明决策过程的问题也进一步被披露。受这一丑闻的启发，我们认为这是东亚学术界对可疑作者行为（QAPs）的首批实证研究之一；我们调查了台湾研究人员对QAPs的看法。为了实现这一目的，我们开展了一项自我报告式调查。包括研究人员（如教授）、博士后研究人员和博士生在内的403名当地研究人员参与了调查。研究得出了四个主要发现。第一，台湾博士生参与QAPs的根本原因在于他们渴望在学术上取得特定成就，以及他们认为有相互支持其他研究人员的义务。第二，台湾研究人员（即研究人员和博士后）参与QAPs的潜在动机在于他们试图在职业上取得特定成功，以及巩固其专业网络的愿望。第三，参与者普遍认为QAPs在当地学术界由来已久，但很少被举报。第四，参与者的背景（即研究学科、学术级别和所属机构类型）对他们在特定作者身份问题上的回答有显著影响；然而，他们的性别没有显著影响。QAPs是台湾学术界的一个关键问题；因此，我们讨论了当前研究结果的影响，包括后续指导和未来研究。
