Kathmandu, Oct. 23
The state of research, knowledge production and
dissemination in Nepal’s Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) is mixed and the
state of compliance with research ethics and norms is not encouraging enough ,
concluded a recent study published by the Policy Research Institute (PRI).
And, some HEIs have been responsible for indirectly
promoting academic misconduct. There is an inter-university connection in
plagiarism, falsification and data fabrication in Master’s level theses.
There are also the instances of trading of theses around
university premises.
Worse, political influence is the main barrier to the
promotion of integrity in academic activities including research.
“Undue political influence stands as the main barrier to
strengthening academic integrity and creating an ethically sound research
environment,” concluded the study.
According to it, not only does it affect the functions of
the faculty and daily administration, but it also weakens the morale of the
leadership and debilitates it to the
extent that it is rendered ineffective even to implement available instruments.
“HEIs are a part of the broad socio-political ecosystem and
cannot remain untouched by the happenings around them,” said one expert
participant of the study suggesting that conflict of interest and other
dishonest practices perceived or reported in HEIs are the reflection of the
ecosystem.
Likewise, research and publication practices are not encouraging. Many scholars do not appear
to be aware – or worried – about predatory publishing.
Meanwhile, research regulatory mechanisms – such as
protocols, rules and regulations – of most HEIs are scattered and do not
necessarily conform to internationally established frameworks, even more so
those dealing with academic integrity. The study found that many HEIs don’t
have such rules and guidelines.
According to the study, the deadline for thesis completion,
the fear of failure, financial stress and the lack of proper supervision are
the major factors that put ‘pressure’ on
students to complete the research project anyway paying no heed to other
concerns and values.
Similarly, perceived opportunities, such as the chances of
not getting noticed or tracked for dishonest academic behaviours, the absence
of the culture of peer reporting and the institutional history and experience
of laxity in dealing with similar acts encourage students and faculties alike
to engage in unethical acts.
“The inability or reluctance of university authorities to
trace and address such serious issues as plagiarism, stealing and the
manipulation of the testing and scoring system creates a psychological state in
which students and faculties rationalize dishonest academic practices and let
them go as a routine act,” read the report.
It portrays a dismal situation at the academia that the issues
and instances of academic misconduct largely remain unreported and unexposed.
Weak legal provisions, lax implementation of existing procedures and the lack
of a peer-reporting environment engender such unethical practices as plagiarism, data
fabrication and manipulation and disingenuous co-authorship to continue, the
study concluded.
Even though some cases of misconduct were reported, some
institutions exhibited lack of courage of motivation to investigate the cases
and hold the responsible to account. While some allegations were investigated
and responded to, the response was not enough to deter such practices.
The study confirmed that informed knowledge of research
ethics correlates with integrity and honesty. It maintained that there should
be regular interactions and sharing of good practices among the students and
scholars, but there is no enabling environment in the HEIs in Nepal to promote
it.
The study said that the cure to such malaise is to hold the
supervisors – the focal persons responsible for helping students in the design,
administration and producing ethically sound products – accountable.
But it could happen only when institutional leadership is
academically committed and is able to take bold administrative decisions when
required. For example, an internal investigation of the Tribhuvan University (TU)
suggested, such leadership is wanting.
Unlike the TU, Kathmandu University (KU) has a distinct
policy governing ethical issues, including conflict of interest, the study
found. The TU’s policy of restricting a student from writing a thesis for a
year in case of ‘plagiarism’ mean nothing towards checking untoward practices
and contributing to integrity, read the report. Likewise, the provisions
governing tenure termination in the TU autonomy regulation do not include
academic misconduct as an issue
However, according to the report, some HEIs, such as KU, and
faculties, such as the TU’s Faculty of Management, do also have their
institution-wide or faculty-wide rules and guidelines.
The study has used policy dialogues with 100 scholars
including vice-chancellors, deans, heads of departments of universities and
research scholars, and with 60 representatives of as many organisations
participated in the dialogue from the non-government sector research
institutions. It also conducted a field survey that included 234 experts from
in and out of the country.
The PRI is a government think-tank, and is mandated to
undertake policy research in a wide range of sectors including economic
development, security, national interests, international relations, governance,
environment and social justice.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 24 October 2022.
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