Today, the Internet is playing a remarkable role in reshaping people’s lives and the fields of philosophy and social sciences are no exception. In addition to magazines, newspapers, meetings and forums, the Internet has emerged as a new platform for academic communication.

Though the network allows scholars to engage in flexible and real-time academic interaction, it has also given rise to issues of academic integrity. Recently, several scholars shared their views about how to utilize the Internet as a new platform for academic exchanges while ensuring its sound development.
 

Diversifying academic activities
Chinese Social Sciences Net aims to be the world’s largest academic portal, and some of its more popular columns, such as “Humanities Community” and “Recommended Blogs,” serve as a window into scientific research.
 

Ouyang Kang, a professor from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, keeps apprised of academic updates and hot topics through the news publicized by a WeChat group.
 

“The WeChat group I follow has more than one hundred users. It broadcasts real-time information in the morning, at noon and in the evening each day and gives a review of education information irregularly,” he said. “Each weekend, it invites experts to deliver speeches on a certain topic and then followers have discussions and give feedback.”
 

In addition, QQ, forums and other academic websites can also be used for academic exchanges, which diversifies academic activities. The Internet allows for a different experience relative to traditional platforms for academics, said Huang Yushun, a professor from the Advanced Institute for Confucian Studies, Shandong University.
 

“The interactivity of the Internet has altered the one-way communication of traditional journals from writers to readers, and every netizen can be a reader and writer too,” Huang said.
 

The openness of online communication has lowered the threshold of academic exchanges, allowing more people to participate, Huang added.
 

“The online platform boasts advantages incomparable to what is permitted by physical space,” said Jiang Qiping, secretary-general of the Center for Information Study at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He observed that the Internet has expanded the breadth and depth of academic exchanges.
 

In particular, online forums with higher professional requirements are praiseworthy, said Nie Baoping, an associate professor from the School of Politics and Public Administration at Soochow University.
 

“Textual materials have been digitized through online academic forums whereby knowledge of all disciplines and a variety of topics are rapidly integrated, classified and utilized,” Nie said.
 

“The online forums not only bring about the direct interaction of ideas but also nurture rational and emotional communication,” Ouyang said. Online discussions have also strengthened friendship among scholars, he added.
 

Exerting negative influence
Due to the low threshold, grassroots academics have developed rapidly into a highlighted field in the academic world. However, as Huang noted, though the gap is being narrowed between the grassroots and the elite and there is frequent interaction and mutual influence between the two groups, great disparities still exist and conflicts often occur.

“The Internet provides an arena for scholars to discuss and debate together, which, on one hand allows individuals to form a community and reach consensus, but on the other hand, could accelerate the split of the community and cause the academic community to break down into factions,” Nie said.
 

Ouyang said that anonymity complicates the governance of online academic activities.
 

“Unlike journals, which demand submissions and preparations from scholars using their real names, online forums are published instantaneously and arbitrarily, which may be a source of inspiration but may also be a source of empty rhetoric and even personal attacks,” he said.

The potential for anonymous online academics to be tainted by commercial motives is another concern. Jiang found that money can tempt people to ghostwrite papers, plagiarize others’ achievements and sell diplomas. And some training courses that adopt the names of well-known scholars are actually fraudulent.
 

The equality and freedom offered by the Internet is a double-edged sword, some academics say.
 

“The seeming freedom of expression has inflated the academic bubbles and even overshadowed the valid research,” Nie said. “Verbal abuse and group labeling has trodden on the dignity of knowledge and the morality of scholars in addition to just obstructing communication.”
 

Interacting with traditional platforms
Ouyang pointed out that these negative Internet phenomena are often related to international Internet marketers, misinformed Internet users as well as the “Big Vs,” which is short for “verified account.” Big Vs are celebrities and other Internet users with a large online influence and some of them often use gimmicks to increase followers.

“We should be positive in dealing with these problems. On one hand, it is significant to enhance the network management, especially the management of online public opinion. On the other hand, it is vital to improve behaviors of netizens and the self-consciousness of scholars,” he added.

The anonymity of online forums is a test for the morality of scholars. Huang noted that though most netizens are anonymous, many scholars choose to use their real names, which indicates that a form of self-regulation is spontaneously taking shape on academic forums.
 

Some worry that the appearance of virtual platforms will lead to the decline of tangible platforms, such as journals and seminars. However, Ouyang said that he predicts printed journals will still be the mainstays of academic communication in the future, and influential journals in particular are still a barometer of academic excellence. He added, on one hand, it is imperative to continue to strengthen the development of journals. On the other hand, the rise of online forums is a complement to journals, and therefore online forums should draw upon the mature theories of journals.

 

Zhang Qingli is a reporter from Chinese Social Sciences Today.