Voluntary Relinquishment of a Degree: Abandonment of Qualifications or Liability?

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Hot discussions broke out in Ukraine regarding accusations of plagiarism against the newly appointed Minister of Education and Science Lisovoy. The situation is really rather unique: precisely in the ministry that has to bring order in the sphere where such things are absolutely unacceptable, the minister may find himself… how to put it more or less decently – in the environment of “conflict of interests”! And such hopes were placed on him! Discussions in the Internet environment have become even hotter, even more unpleasant. And so a “brilliant” way out was proposed – Lisovyi himself voluntarily renounces that damned thesis and that scientific degree! – Take away, they say, these handouts of yours – it’s not that big and the additional payment for the degree, I’ll do without it to remain a minister! There were even those who took it almost as a feat, a kind of self-sacrifice, thereby demonstrating their complete disrespect for science and those who work in it. After all, it is not about a gift or an award at all. After all, what is a scientific degree? Ukrainian Wikipedia defines it as state recognition of a scientist’s qualification level. In other countries, it is rightly believed that the word “state” is superfluous here, because it is primarily about recognition by the scientific community – people who are sufficiently competent in the relevant field of scientific knowledge. But in this case it is not about that. Not only in science, in any field where a person’s qualification and level of competence are valued, it is difficult to imagine a person who voluntarily refuses to have his qualification level recognized by specialists. So how willingly the government supported Lisovoi’s idea, supplementing the Procedure for the preparation of higher education holders of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Sciences in clause 50., which provided for the possibility of voluntarily getting rid of the scientific degree as an unnecessary hassle (Already on May 19, the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers to the old text simply added: “Voluntary refusal of a scientific degree”). Thus, our government demonstrated not only a clear misunderstanding of the specifics of what is happening among scientists, but also a complete disregard for the qualifications of a researcher as such. The ministers immediately seized the opportunity, as it seemed to them, to quickly get rid of the need to understand the essence of the case. But in reality, this is an illusion that led to a mistake that will have long-lasting consequences. The absurdity of the situation can be understood from a simple analogy. After all, what is plagiarism? – This is, in fact, theft of someone else’s. But is it possible to imagine that at a court hearing, where the punishment for the burglar of someone’s apartment is discussed, the accused “voluntarily gives up” the stolen property, and the judge, in this regard, finds him not guilty of robbery? Such a thing cannot be imagined even in a completely corrupt court, but in relation to science, for some reason, it seems quite normal to some. By legitimizing Lisovoi’s ingenious attempt to jump out of the water dry, the government effectively established an easy way to avoid responsibility for violations of scientific ethics and academic integrity. In addition to the fact that this is immoral in itself, it can also cause certain problems in relations with European partners. After all, such a policy is completely opposite to the trends that are increasingly evident in the world, where measures to combat such violations are increasingly introduced. So in the Society named after Max Planck (scientific association in Germany, similar in many respects to our National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine) has introduced a clear system of punishments for violations of the norms of scientific ethics, starting from purely moral and ethical – for minor violations – and ending with strict administrative measures. Despite the requirement to deal very carefully and delicately with each specific violation and even suspicion of a violation, in case of confirmation of his deliberate commission (for example, the same plagiarism), the Senate of the society adopts a decision on the extraordinary dismissal of the violator from work in his institutions, cancellation of the contract with him , even about preventing him from entering the territory of the Plank institutes. Of course, we have all these discussions about specific individuals, their moral right to occupy responsible positions, to make important decisions. But they also confirm the fact that scientists have drawn attention to more than once: the entire current mechanism of formation and implementation of the state scientific and scientific and technological policy in our country needs serious changes, because science in it turned out to be clamped by the vices of bureaucratic interventions and formulas, a vivid example which is, in particular, the corruption-ridden state system of training and certification of scientific personnel. Life confirms that attempts to solve its problems, to ensure the quality and transparency of its work by purely bureaucratic methods of regulation, have undeniably demonstrated their inability. Probably, here it would be worthwhile to take a closer look at how it is done in the advanced countries of the West, which consider it inappropriate to grant it state status and inadmissible for the interference of public administration employees in the processes of evaluating scientific works and attesting researchers. Oleksandr Popovych, scientist, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, specially for UP. Life Publications in the “View” section are not editorial articles and reflect exclusively the author’s point of view. Read also: “Refloration” of Ukrainian plagiarists, or how they “saved private” L

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