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Reading about that makes me very angry. I long to see some justice for your colleague. Lots of good suggestions to guard with arXiv, I hope many young academics

Reading about that makes me very angry. I long to see some justice for your colleague. Lots of good suggestions to guard with arXiv, I hope many young academics coming through read this post and learn from it. I wish I had something more substantive to add, but, all I can say is I hope your colleague knows that even if the swindlers and plagiarizers take our research, years of our lives, etc, be they in China or wherever the whole wide world else ain't able to take away the heart of a real one. They know the research ain't theirs, and they know they depend on real producers to be able to commit their crimes, or do anything actually useful and it's not the other way around. These plagiarists are parasites, and one day we'll be free of them.

zomglings 5y ago
Sadly, I cannot share your optimism. As long as metrics like impact factor and citation count determine the trajectories of academic careers, plagiarism, collusion, and other forms of academic dishonesty will not go a way. The fact of the matter is that most academics do not have time to dig into whether someone's work is intellectually dishonest. Being dishonest has a huge payoff as long as you don't cause a scandal. Anyone who plans to stay in academia should understand that the metagame has changed over the last 50 years. Largely because human attention has not scaled with rate at which academics are exposed to and expected to assimilate new information. There is a larger payoff to exploiting the lack of attention than to earnestly carrying out some meaningful research program. At the very least, do both. By no means do only the latter.
- JetAlone 5y ago
  "By no means do not only carry out meaningful research"? Happily, I cannot share your cynicism. There are metrics and citations being taken, of our dishonest acts. They determine the trajectories of virtually everything relevant to our lives, and can have momentous impacts on the lives of others. I cannot judge any other man or woman, but I know I would be a coward, a fool, and a fraud to diversify any kind of portfolio of mine in this life, by consciously choosing to sprinkle in some exploitation or lies.
  - zomglings 5y ago
    Actually completely agree with you about not making yourself a coward, a fool and a fraud. I should have been clearer. If you want to stay in academia, not debasing yourself comes at a high cost in terms of your career. It is better to leave than to debase yourself. Academia is a system worth destroying. Participate in its destruction. Leave. There are so many exciting opportunities to continue doing meaningful work outside of universities and research institutes.
    - JetAlone 5y ago
      Thank you for clarifying to an ideologue-dog. If I'd chosen to remain at university, this post would certainly be a wake-up call to me. Respect.
    - Beldin 5y ago
      There certainly are aspects of academia that are overdue for improvement. However, for folks with a CS PhD degree, my guess is that moving out of academia has a high chance of you ending up contributing to surveillance capitalism. Now there's a system worth destroying.
- JMTQp8lwXL 5y ago
  Anything metric that becomes gamed ceases to be useful. If we all know the game is to optimize for number of citations, then the jig is up. It will eventually cease to be a useful system and fail its ultimate goal. Institutions can handle some amount of it, but left unchecked, the institution will fail when quality falls enough to prevent any further value creation. Certain journals or periodicals will lose their notoriety, and with it, bring down the credibility of the entire system in which they exist.
  - xbar 5y ago
    The folks who have benefited from the system are in power. They are too heavily invested in extending its existence in its current, increasingly corrupt form. I used to be enamored of academia and its promise. I am now glad there are increasing avenues for success for researchers who choose to leave it, given the limits of their capability to express their ideas honestly with the hope of being recognized for valuable work.

zomglings 5y ago

Sadly, I cannot share your optimism. As long as metrics like impact factor and citation count determine the trajectories of academic careers, plagiarism, collusion, and other forms of academic dishonesty will not go a way. The fact of the matter is that most academics do not have time to dig into whether someone's work is intellectually dishonest. Being dishonest has a huge payoff as long as you don't cause a scandal. Anyone who plans to stay in academia should understand that the metagame has changed over the last 50 years. Largely because human attention has not scaled with rate at which academics are exposed to and expected to assimilate new information. There is a larger payoff to exploiting the lack of attention than to earnestly carrying out some meaningful research program. At the very least, do both. By no means do only the latter.

JetAlone 5y ago
"By no means do not only carry out meaningful research"? Happily, I cannot share your cynicism. There are metrics and citations being taken, of our dishonest acts. They determine the trajectories of virtually everything relevant to our lives, and can have momentous impacts on the lives of others. I cannot judge any other man or woman, but I know I would be a coward, a fool, and a fraud to diversify any kind of portfolio of mine in this life, by consciously choosing to sprinkle in some exploitation or lies.
- zomglings 5y ago
  Actually completely agree with you about not making yourself a coward, a fool and a fraud. I should have been clearer. If you want to stay in academia, not debasing yourself comes at a high cost in terms of your career. It is better to leave than to debase yourself. Academia is a system worth destroying. Participate in its destruction. Leave. There are so many exciting opportunities to continue doing meaningful work outside of universities and research institutes.
  - JetAlone 5y ago
    Thank you for clarifying to an ideologue-dog. If I'd chosen to remain at university, this post would certainly be a wake-up call to me. Respect.
  - Beldin 5y ago
    There certainly are aspects of academia that are overdue for improvement. However, for folks with a CS PhD degree, my guess is that moving out of academia has a high chance of you ending up contributing to surveillance capitalism. Now there's a system worth destroying.
JMTQp8lwXL 5y ago
Anything metric that becomes gamed ceases to be useful. If we all know the game is to optimize for number of citations, then the jig is up. It will eventually cease to be a useful system and fail its ultimate goal. Institutions can handle some amount of it, but left unchecked, the institution will fail when quality falls enough to prevent any further value creation. Certain journals or periodicals will lose their notoriety, and with it, bring down the credibility of the entire system in which they exist.
- xbar 5y ago
  The folks who have benefited from the system are in power. They are too heavily invested in extending its existence in its current, increasingly corrupt form. I used to be enamored of academia and its promise. I am now glad there are increasing avenues for success for researchers who choose to leave it, given the limits of their capability to express their ideas honestly with the hope of being recognized for valuable work.