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Rather poor article because it doesn’t answer the question of why fake research is so prevalent in China. There are a few reasons but they include 1) almost ev
by frozenport 3y ago
Rather poor article because it doesn’t answer the question of why fake research is so prevalent in China.
There are a few reasons but they include 1) almost everybody is committing massive fraud making actual policing difficult (are you going to fire everybody ?) 2) strong incentives to publish papers without quality (in the us judging aspiring faculty applicants on total papers is taboo)
- resolutebat 3y agoSame reason why all sorts of gnarly scams (melamine milk, gutter oil, etc) are/were so prevalent in China: there were no consequences. But some of the melamine people were sentenced to death, and the article notes that the government is starting to clamp down on fake research too.
- SomeoneFromCA 3y agoIt feels that Chinese govt. is complacent in that scheme however: allowing scientific scams have helped to increase interest in science domestically and create illusion of productivity internationally. Now it has began hurting, so they are cracking down.
- lostlogin 3y agoI might be a bit too cynical, but isn’t this how usually regulation usually works? It’s all fun and games until someone goes too far.
- SomeoneFromCA 3y agoNo, I do not think so. Not in the scale Chinese govt. does this, anyway.
- frozenport 3y agoArticle mentions it was the guy’s employer who fired him. Rather than the government.
- chrisjj 3y ago> it doesn’t answer the question of why fake research is so prevalent in China. "Bad incentives are a big part of the problem."
- frozenport 3y agoImagine reading the entire article, subscribing to the Economist, and only getting this tiny fragment that could be otherwise found on a passing HN comment.
- chrisjj 3y agoI am trying... nope. Too far-fetched.
- jszymborski 3y agoHonestly, I agree that the article doesn't do a satisfactory job of answering "why?". Simply stating that researchers have an incentive to is true of everywhere.