How Academia Becomes Deregulated (A Institutional Analysis of Academic Misconduct in Universities)

Author: Jiang Xinhua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: This book approaches the issue of academic misconduct in universities from the perspective of deviant sociology, employing a collectivist research paradigm. At the institutional level, it follows the logical process of identifying, analyzing, and solving problems to explore the essence, manifestations, and harms of academic misconduct in higher education. It analyzes and argues that the insufficient supply of academic institutions is the direct and primary root of academic misconduct in universities. It also briefly examines the impact of flaws in sociopolitical, economic, and cultural (educational) institutions on such misconduct. Building on this analysis of various institutional roots, the book proposes primary measures to address academic misconduct in universities—strengthening and innovating both academic and social institutions—and provides a detailed discussion of the subjects, basis, and measures of institutional innovation.
The essence, manifestations, and harms of academic misconduct in universities. The insufficient supply of academic institutions is the direct and primary root of academic misconduct in universities. Flaws in sociopolitical, economic, and cultural (educational) institutions are the indirect roots of academic misconduct in universities. Addressing academic misconduct in universities relies on institutional innovation. During the period of social transformation in China, one prominent issue in the higher education sector is academic misconduct. Research on academic misconduct not only holds theoretical significance in deepening the understanding of the nature of university moral education and enriching its theory but also offers practical value in providing policy recommendations for addressing misconduct and ensuring the orderly operation of academic integrity. This study represents a preliminary yet beneficial exploration of the issue.
Research on academic misconduct can be conducted from different perspectives and using various methods. This study adopts a deviant sociology perspective and employs a collectivist research paradigm, examining the social structure (social institutions) level to explore the essence, manifestations, causes, and governance strategies of academic misconduct in universities. What is academic misconduct (the essence of academic misconduct)? Is this issue present in universities (the current state and main manifestations of academic misconduct in universities)? Is there a need for research on this issue (the main harms of academic misconduct)? The answers to these questions form the core content of this book.
Based on sociological concepts of deviance, general understandings of "academic" in academia, and ethical concepts of morality, the author defines academic misconduct as the use of means that do not conform to academic ethical norms by academics to achieve social value goals (such as obtaining titles, degrees, or money). Based on this understanding, the author categorizes the external manifestations of academic misconduct in the university sector, dividing them into deviant behaviors in academic research, academic evaluation, and academic reward domains, and further classifies these behaviors according to certain criteria.
Finally, the author analyzes the harms of academic misconduct in universities, identifying three main harms: undermining the social function of universities, hindering the implementation of the national "rejuvenation of the country through science and education" strategy, and exacerbating corruption in social.
Although academic misconduct in universities has roots in sociopolitical, economic, cultural (including academic) institutions, not all institutions have the same level of influence. So, which institution is the primary one affecting academic misconduct in universities? The second part of this book primarily addresses this question. The author defines the concept of academic institutions and their composition, analyzes the main flaws in existing academic institutions, and discusses the relationship between these flaws and academic misconduct in universities.
The author argues that academic institutions are systematic behavioral norms and standards established by society or academic communities to regulate and guide academic activities in the pursuit of knowledge innovation and the increment of human knowledge. Academic institutions include intrinsic academic institutions and extrinsic academic institutions. The former refers to the traditions, values, and norms spontaneously formed by academic communities in their historical evolution to regulate and guide the academic activities of scholars. The latter refers to laws and rules consciously formulated by society or academic institutions to regulate and guide the behavior of academics. Flaws in academic institutions primarily manifest as insufficient supply. The insufficient supply of intrinsic academic institutions is reflected in the lack of support from a scientific spirit in academia, while the insufficient supply of extrinsic academic institutions is divided into two types: absolute supply insufficiency and effective supply insufficiency. Absolute supply insufficiency refers to the incompleteness of the academic institution system, with some essential institutions missing. Effective supply insufficiency refers to flaws in the content of academic institutions, preventing their core principles from being effectively realized.
Based on the analysis of the specific manifestations of insufficient supply of academic institutions, the author points out that the insufficient supply of academic institutions is the direct and primary root of academic misconduct in universities.
The third part of this book primarily discusses the relationship between flaws in social institutions and academic misconduct in universities. Although sociopolitical, economic, and cultural (educational) institutions are not the primary ones affecting academic misconduct in universities, this does not mean that the flaws in these institutions are unrelated to academic misconduct. The author analyzes the flaws in sociopolitical, economic, and cultural (educational) institutions and their relationship with academic misconduct in universities. The author argues that flaws in political institutions primarily manifest in supervision systems, flaws in economic institutions in property rights systems, credit systems, and distribution systems, while flaws in cultural (educational) institutions are reflected in three main aspects: the cultivation goals of universities, curriculum design, and evaluation standards.
Based on the analysis of the relationship between these social institution flaws and academic misconduct in universities, the author points out that flaws in social institutions are the indirect roots of academic misconduct in universities.
The fourth part of this book addresses the issue of how to address academic misconduct in universities. Since the insufficient supply of academic institutions and flaws in social institutions are the roots of academic misconduct in universities, the primary measures to address it should be to strengthen and innovate both academic and social institutions. The author provides a detailed discussion of the subjects, basis, and measures of institutional innovation.