Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Research Misconduct

It was great meeting with the Mamfe (Akuapem) Prince, Prof. Kwabena Akurang-Parry yesterday. 

Fake "scholarship" is thriving in our universities, just as a handful are slugging it out and keeping the flag flying, including taking steps to tackle the problem head-on as these articles demonstrate.

Okey Iheduru

http://dailypost.ng/2018/04/16/nigerian-universities-full-internet-professors-ex-vc-onyido/

Nigerian Universities full of 'Internet Professors' – Ex-VC, Onyido

Published

 

on

 April 16, 2018

By

 Joe Chukindi 

Former Vice Chancellor of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike and Director, Centre for Sustainable Development, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof Ikenna Onyido has lamented that Nigeria universities are full of those he described as internet professors.

Onyido, who was keynote speaker at the 55th meeting of the committee of Deans of Post Graduate Schools in Nigerian Universities, described internet professors as professors who simply log onto the internet to copy works of other scholars and present same as theirs.

Speaking on the theme 'the knowledge paradigm in the age of sustainable development: the relevance of the Nigerian post graduate school', Onyido said such lecturers plagiarised their way to professorship, while adding that such practice was the bane of research and development in the country.

He said, "A reasonable number of the thesis that pass through our schools contain plagiarised materials. These are the reasons we have 'internet professors' who plagiarise their way up, copying materials they know nothing about.

"I borrowed Prof Jeffrey Sachs' phrase in the above(precious reference), and the difference between my borrowing Sachs' title and what my colleagues do these days to become professors overnight is that while I acknowledge my source, these dubious, crooked colleagues of ours do not.

"In fact, a reasonable proportion of theses that pass through some of our post graduate schools contain massively plagiarised materials, just as some of our latter day professors in the Nigerian university system are internet professors.

"They plagiarize their way up the promotion ladder by downloading materials from the internet and claiming authorship of articles they know nothing about."

He said that a certain university in the South-East now produces professors described as 'China professors' who were tested and found not worthy to be lecturer 11.

Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Prof Joseph Ahaneku who was the chief host stated that research was one thing that stood university system out, but regretted that the number, quality and originality of research in the university system was now poor.

He said TETFUND once observed that universities were not assessing funds meant for research. He urged universities to articulate their proposals and go for grants as organisations such as World Bank was making funds available but universities were are not accessing them.

He urged universities to articulate their proposal and access funds for research instead of going on the internet and copying works that had not impacted on the society.

"If we fail to address the critical role of research, we have failed," he said.

Proffering solutions, Onyido called for increased funding by government for universities.

He urged senior scholars to cultivate the habit of mentoring younger ones.

The conference attracted Deans of post graduate schools from universities across the country.

How research analytics is driving success at a Nigerian university

In its 15 years, Covenant University has powered its way up the country's research rankings and is looking to compete internationally

• By Elisa Nelissen 
• June 2, 2017

  https://www.elsevier.com/connect/how-research-analytics-is-driving-success-at-a-nigerian-university

God, not me, is the VC of UNILAG, says Ogundipe

Posted By: Ola Fadahunsi On: May 10, 2018 In: Campus LifeComment

Vice-chancellor (VC) of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, has said God, not him, is in charge of the institution. The VC spoke on Sunday while delivering a sermon at the university's chapter of the Redeemed Christian Fellowship held at Tolulope Odugbemi Hall. The theme of Ogundipe's sermon was: You shall not be wasted. The VC said God had been the one administering the institution since he took over from his predecessor last year. The professor of Botany… Read more

http://thenationonlineng.net/god-is-in-charge-of-unilag-says-vc/

On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 1:10 PM Kwabena Akurang-Parry <kaparry@hotmail.com> wrote:

Yesterday,  l had lunch with Prof Okey lheduru, who is in Accra, Ghana, sherphering students abroad. This was one of the topics we discussed. I found out that even graduate students don't even know what plagiarism is all about. Our educational systems are getting worse.  Lecturers who publish student essays, lecturers who publish in predatory journals for promotion,  sex for grades,  student who bribe their way thru dissertations,  and students who pay for others to write dissertations/theses for them. Changing the status quo or bringing new ideas comes with devastating cost. Frankly,  if wasn't for mysterious disappearance of my two siblings that I have committed to seeking justice for, I would have returned to the USA. I feel like a stranger in my place of birth but life continues. 

Kwabena

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From: 'O O' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: June 29, 2018 11:02 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Research Misconduct

 

IN DEPTHRESEARCH MISCONDUCT

In Nigeria, a battle against plagiarism heats up

1. Linda Nordling

1. Linda Nordling is a science journalist based in Cape Town, South Africa.

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Science  29 Jun 2018:
Vol. 360, Issue 6396, pp. 1384-1385
DOI: 10.1126/science.360.6396.1384 

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Six years ago, Emmanuel Unuabonah, a chemist at Redeemer's University in Ede, Nigeria, read a scientific paper that made him feel "betrayed." A colleague from Germany had shown him the study, which was published in a Nigeria-based journal. In it, four Nigerian researchers presented data copied from a paper by the German researcher as their own. Although Unuabonah had nothing to do with the blatant plagiarism, "I felt humiliated," he recalls. "It was not good for the image of Nigerian science."

The experience led Unuabonah to become a leader in a growing movement to combat academic plagiarism in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and home to more than 150 public and private universities and colleges. Since 2012, the Nigerian Young Academy (NYA)—an off-shoot of the Nigerian Academy of Sciences (NAS) for scientists younger than 45 that Unuabonah helped found—has made educating academics about the pitfalls of plagiarism a major focus of its work. The group will hold a session on preventing plagiarism in August at its annual meeting in Ondo City, Nigeria. This past February, a record 350 participants showed up for a daylong, NYA-run plagiarism workshop, and the group soon hopes to arrange at least six more, one in each of Nigeria's six geopolitical regions.

The fledgling group, which has just 36 members, is also encouraging universities to make greater efforts to detect plagiarism—such as by installing software that can detect plagiarized material—and to penalize those who copy. Last year, NYA itself ejected a member for plagiarism, and it has formally made improper copying a dismissible offense.

There's no conclusive evidence that plagiarism is more common in poorer nations like Nigeria than in wealthier countries. But a 2017 survey of attitudes toward research misconduct in low- and middle-income countries found that respondents perceived plagiarism as "common," a team led by researchers at Stellenbosch University in South Africa reported last year in The BMJ. Similar views emerged from a 2010 survey of 133 Nigerian scientists conducted by physician Patrick Okonta of Delta State University Teaching Hospital in Otefe, Nigeria. The survey, published in 2014 in BMC Medical Ethics, found that 88% believed plagiarism and other forms of misconduct were common at their institutions.

Also fueling concerns about shoddy scholarship in Nigeria is the large number of researchers who publish in low-quality, feebased journals—including a few titles based within the country—that don't peer review manuscripts or screen for plagiarized material. An analysis of 2000 papers appearing in such journals, published in Naturein 2017, found that researchers based in Nigeria made up the third largest group of authors, behind authors from India and the United States. NYA and NAS are now discussing creating a journal index that would help academics identify "which are good and which are a waste of time," says NYA President Temitope Olomola, a chemist at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, who is on a 1-year sabbatical at the University of South Africa in Johannesburg.

Some high-profile plagiarism cases have involved Nigerians: In 2017, publisher Taylor & Francis retracted 10 publications by Oluwaseun Bamidele, who began publishing papers about terrorism as an undergraduate. Bamidele later told Retraction Watch that he didn't learn about plagiarism rules until he enrolled in a master's degree program, and he took responsibility for his missteps. That lack of training is common among Nigerian students, says Olomola, who recalls that he, too, didn't fully learn citation rules until he was a graduate student in South Africa. NYA's workshops, he notes, aim to raise awareness of best practices among students and professors, and provide tips for avoiding improper duplication.

Many Nigerian researchers believe few plagiarists get caught, Okonta's survey suggested. But that may change. In 2013, a group of Nigerian vice-chancellors negotiated discounted subscriptions to the antiplagiarism software Turnitin, which screens documents for borrowed material. And Okonta's university and others have made plagiarism checks a part of faculty promotion reviews.

Campaigners also want to institute stiffer consequences for copying. "We need to do a lot more sensitization, telling people about the awful side of being caught," Unuabonah says. "That will send some fear into their hearts." Recent dismissals of Nigerian academics for plagiarism are helping that cause, says Charles Ayo, former vice-chancellor of Covenant University in Ota, Nigeria.

Nigeria's two-pronged effort to raise awareness about plagiarism and penalize wrongdoers is a good model for change, says malaria researcher Virander Singh Chauhan, who chairs India's National Assessment and Accreditation Council in Bengaluru and helped write that country's new antiplagiarism rules. "This is not an Indian or Nigerian problem," he says. "It is a global issue, and technology has made it so very easy and tempting."

Ultimately, Nigeria's antiplagiarism campaigners hope their efforts will not only prevent problems, but also improve perceptions of Nigerian science. "The whole world is watching," Olomola says. "That still needs to sink into many of our people."

Science

Vol 360, Issue 6396
29 June 2018 

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