Scholars: Academic dishonesty hurts journals’ integrity

In the digital era, characterized by global access to a wide variety of sources, publishers of academic journals in the field of humanities and social sciences are seriously considering the question of how to reform management and achieve transformation in the new historical context.

The forum Reform and Develop­ment of Comprehensive Academic Journals of Humanities and Social Sci­ences Sponsored by the National So­cial Sciences Fund was held in Wuhan from Oct. 14 to 15, with chief editors from more than 60 academic journals in attendance. Central China Normal University hosted the forum at the re­quest of the National Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Sciences.

Jiang Peimao, deputy director of the National Planning Office of Phi­losophy and Social Sciences, said that since the reform and opening-up, Chi­na has experienced rapid growth in the number of social science journals, and the quality of these is constantly improving. However, in general, there are still a number of problems, such as redundancy, lack of originality and little international influence.

“For one, academic journals have insufficient funding, which has led to an outdated management mode, making it difficult to live up to its pur­poses and academic ideal. Also, the contemporary academic standards and management system need fur­ther regulation and guidance,” Jiang added.

Chief editor of the Journal of Huazhong Normal University Wang Zelong said that the poor quality of humanities and social science journals is closely related to miscon­duct in the field. It is not just a few isolated cases but rather a common social issue. Therefore, various fac­tors should be considered in the evaluation of academic journals and publishers must avoid shortsighted eagerness for quick success.

As for the impact of digitalization on academic journals, Zhu Jian, chief editor of the Journal of Nanjing Uni­versity , said that information inte­gration is of preeminent importance in the age of the Internet, so coopera­tion and information sharing among academic journals will be conducive to the long-term development.

“However, the digital transforma­tion of contemporary academic journals will not happen overnight because it cannot solve all problems, namely changing concepts, con­straints of the system, lack of funding and the shortage of talent,” Zhu said.

Gao Xiang, chief editor of the Social Sciences Journal , said that in order for academic journals of humanities and social sciences to go interna­tional, we should not make one-dimensional content to cater to the West. Instead, we should step on the international stage with the advan­tages and characteristics of Chinese academics.

The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today, No. 659, Oct.17, 2014      

The Chinese link is: http://www.cssn.cn/hy/hy_zywz/201410/t20141017_1366742.shtml

Translated by Yang Xue