陇山陇西郡

宁静纯我心感得事物人写朴实清新. 闲书闲话养闲心,闲笔闲写记闲人;人生无虞懂珍惜，以沫相濡字字真。

首页文章列表博文目录

个人资料

TJKCB

给我悄悄话

博客访问：

Honor code: Scholarship

(2015-11-11 22:41:37) 下一个

A modest proposal for Scholarly Behavior 精选

已有 2771 次阅读 2015-11-12 08:18 |个人分类:学术教育|系统分类:海外观察

(For new reader and those who request 好友请求, please read my 公告栏 first)

A modest proposal for a new beginning: a Hippocratic Oath for S&T workers

I was invited by the National Science Review (official magazine of the Chinese Academies of Sciences and of Engineering to author the following perspective -

http://nsr.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/10/27/nsr.nwv055.full.pdf?papetoc (also reproduced below) intheir latest issue. Take a look and give me some feedback. Thank you.

National Science Review Advance Access published October 27, 2015

Subjectcategory: SCIENCE POLICY Type:

Perspective:

A modest proposal for a new beginning: aHippocratic Oath for S&T workers

Yu-Chi Ho

In the last thirty some years Chinese scientific research have seen tremendous growth along with the miraculous economic and social progresses. As an oversea Chinese scientist I am very proud of the achievements. Rapid growths always come with some side issues that need to be addressed along the way. The problem of scholarly misbehavior in China is well known and the systemic causes of the problem have also been extensively discussed. There is no need for me to repeat them here. Under President Xi’s anti-corruption effort, reducing such misbehavior is one component of the effort. What I would like to propose is a modest step towards the solution of this problem. The advantages of the proposal are that it is inexpensive, can be effective, possibly precedentsetting, and have worldwide impact. There is also some experimental evidencethat it may work.

In the US as well as some universities in China with which I am familiar, all authors of Ph.D. thesis are required to sign and incorporate as an integral part of his/her written thesis a pledge that the work is “original and not copied from other sources . . .“. Otherwise the thesis cannot be approved. While someone may falsely sign such a pledge, the consequence is immediate when discovered.Knowing such a requirement also helps to prevent misbehavior from the start.Hence I propose that the Chinese Academies of Sciences and of Engineering take lead in initiating and maintain a public National Register for Scholar Pledges.Every scholar starting with leaders is urged to sign a pledge that from this day forward they will not engaged in scholarly misbehavior in their work. The register can be divided via disciplines and/or institutions publically maintain on the World Wide Web (WWW)for all to see. The advantages of such a register are numerous. Let me just mention a few of them as to why do I believe the effort is worthwhile:

1. Since the register is public, it will serve as a deterrent against temptations for misbehavior by signers.

2.Any misbehavior will now be the sole responsibility of the signers. This will absolve the institution from any blame/scandal and avoid the Chinese custom “not display family dirty laundry in public” which leads to cover up rather han sanctions.

3. Once started by leading scholars as signers, pressure will begin to exist on other non-signers (After all, how can anyone be against such a pledge? And why didn’t you sign?)

4. It will be relatively costless for the Academies to implement such a scheme while the benefits are many.

5. It will show the world China’s determination to stop scholarly misbehavior and anexample for the rest of the world.

Of course, I am aware that there are obstacles and possible objections to such a scheme.

First, it has been my experience and knowledge of China that for any task to succeed, the order must first come from the top. Thus, I urge the CAS and CAEto take lead in initiating this if they feel the effort will be worthwhile.Only their approval is needed. Very little effort on their part is necessary.The scientific public, I believe, will enthusiastically support it.

Second, leading scientists including Academicians may consider signing such a register beneath their dignity or even insulting. This is very true. But let me just point out that the medical profession require all doctors (famous or not, including Nobel laureates) subscribe to the Hippocratic Oath on ethical behavior. If medicine practices this why shouldn’t all sciences and technology? If the S&T leaders such as the Academies of Sciences and of Engineering take lead in organizing such a register, no one should feel this is an insult.

In fact,by taking the lead to do something for China, one can feel it is an honor to do so. Signing can be viewed as an act of patriotism. You sign not because of personal benefit but as an aspiration for others. Even if an academician genuinely feels it is a sacrifice of his/her dignity to sign, just consider it as a small sacrifice in return for all the benefits the government bestowed on you as a leading scientist or academicians.

Third, some people may feel this is a trick by the government to convict them of lying for any indiscretions however small they may have committed in the past. Hence, the proposal does not address the past and only deals with “from this day forward”. Of course,detailed implementation of such a scheme needs to be worked out. But I leave it to Chinese researchers who are much more familiar with tradition and customs to determine.

And for readers who agree with this proposal, you are urged to support it by writing tothe Chinese Academies or this Journal.

Yu-Chi Ho School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (emeritus professor) , Harvard University, USA E-mail: ho@seas.harvard.edu

本文引用地址：http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-1565-934510.html 此文来自科学网何毓琦博客，转载请注明出处。
上一篇：Submarines, the Cold War, and advances in Geophysics

收藏分享举报

当前推荐数：13 推荐人：谢力 徐勇刚 沈律 喻海良 樊晓峰 史晓雷 李兆良 段庆伟 高媛 许培扬 xchen wqhwqh333 Genesee

该博文允许注册用户评论请点击登录评论 (5 个评论)

[5]许培扬 2015-11-12 14:20: 何院士给国家科委主任宋健的信正好十周年了，他当年指出的中国学术不端问题没有得到有效的遏制，近几年反而更为严重，值得大家深思，必须采取强有力的措施解决这些问题，取信于国际科学界。http://blog.sciencenet.cn/home.php?mod=space&uid=280034&do=blog&id=934561