Hiring ghostwriters to finish research papers, theses or dissertations has become a widespread phenomenon at Taiwanese universities, legislators said. They yesterday urged the Ministry of Education to come up with solutions to what they say is a growing problem.
"The ghostwriting of theses or dissertations has caused great damage to the quality of higher education. The [ministry] should take action to stop such a trend," said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Wei-cher (
During a press conference held to raise awareness about ghostwriting, Huang and three other DPP legislators, including Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬), Eva Hsieh (謝欣霓) and Winston Dang (陳重信), invited a graduate student and ministry officials to talk about the problem.
According to Hsieh, the ghostwriting of academic papers makes evident the lack of a thesis or dissertation review system at the nation's colleges and universities.
"Our institutes of higher learning should put more emphasis on oral exams and review of a student's academic performance," Hsieh said.
A Google.com search of college Bulletin Board System sites displayed at the press conference showed that information about thesis ghostwriting services or ghostwriter advertisements were easy to come by on the Internet.
"I have friends who ghostwrote theses or dissertations for other students or hire people to write their papers. [Ghostwriting] is becoming popular, and you can find everything about ghostwriting easily online," said the graduate student who wished to remain anonymous.
According to statistics from the ministry, the number of graduate schools has grown from 623 to 2,215 between 1994 and 2003. The quality of higher education, however, failed to keep pace with the growing number of school, the legislators said.
Responding to the criticism, Ma Hsiang-ping (
Since ghostwriting is considered cheating, students who hire someone to ghostwrite for them would be punished with expulsion, Ma said.
"In addition, we will ask colleges and universities to tighten their academic review system to prevent ghostwriting from taking place," Ma added.
According to the research done by the legislators, ghostwriting is popular among students in the liberal arts and business schools.
"Besides focusing more on oral examinations in the review process, replacing traditional dissertations with creative projects, such as performances or displays, could be an alternative to assessing a student's academic achievement," Cheng said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
RSS