Information technology and reform of the dissertation system

    Bacchanalia

    imageOver the past 5-6 years, a reform of the system of training scientific and pedagogical personnel of higher qualifications (i.e., graduate students and doctoral students) is in full swing in Russia. One element of this reform is to ensure the transparency of the dissertation defense process. It would seem that a lot has been done - but what is the result? Despite all the statements of officials from education and science, life shows that talking about some positive results is hardly possible. Almost no one reads abstracts posted on the Internet. The number of substandard dissertations has not decreased, but rather increased. The Anti-Plagiarism system, for the implementation of which considerable amounts were spent, did not live up to its hopes. It would seem: it's time to change your mind, analyze the mistakes made and outline ways to correct them.


    At the end of February, the following information appeared on the website of the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC):

    In accordance with paragraph 42. of the Regulation on the Council for the Defense of Dissertations for the Candidate of Science degree, for the Doctor of Science degree, approved by order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation dated December 12, 2011 No. 2817 (registered by the Ministry of Justice of Russia on January 31, 2012, registration No. 23080), if the decision is positive on the results of the defense of the dissertation, it shall be sent to M within 30 days from the day of defense foreign science of Russia certification work of the applicant, which includes audio-video recording of the meeting of the dissertation council in a machine-readable digital format.
    When preparing an audio-video recording of a dissertation council meeting, it is recommended to use widespread codecs (H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC, etc.) and containers (.avi, .mp4, .mov, .mkv, etc.) with permission less than 640x480 pixels and a frequency of at least 25 fps. You can use other codecs and containers that provide the ability to play audio and video using the widespread free software.


    Why is all this necessary? Can you imagine the experts of the Higher Attestation Commission watching the video and checking it against the transcript of protection? I - no: after such views on reading and checking dissertations, there is absolutely no time left.
    In addition, the innovation does not eliminate abuse: if for some reason the video is not read on the expert’s computer, the dissertation is immediately “wrapped”!

    The list of absurd innovations does not end there. Not so long ago, the new Regulation on the Dissertation Council became available on the Internet , where it is written in black and white: in addition to paper documents (which had to be sent to the Higher Attestation Commission before), the dissertation must, after protection, also send an “electronic medium” containing the same paper documents to in electronic form, as well as "electronic full-text version of the dissertation."

    My current activity is related to electronic document management and electronic storage of documents, so this innovation has raised a lot of questions for me. Why duplicate on paper what is already being sent in electronic form (and which, accordingly, can be printed in any quantity if necessary?)
    What electronic medium is meant? Is a CD really (and this is in an era when CD as a storage medium is a thing of the past)? What happens if the CD is accidentally damaged during transfer? That's right - a dissertation, which has spent a lot of time and nerves, is "wrapped up" ...

    However, there are a number of other issues. Neither in the provision itself, nor in the orders and instructions published on the website of the Higher Attestation Commission, a word is said about the formats in which information should be presented in electronic form. With dissertations in the humanities, it is more or less clear: they, as a rule, are pure text that can be opened and read in any of the common text editors. And what then is to be done with technical dissertations, including, for example, drawings and diagrams performed using specialized software? What happens if such a file is not read on any of the computers of the VAK? That's right - the thesis is “wrapped up”.

    It is also interesting how the storage of information sent on electronic media will be organized. Will it be stored on CDs? Or is it planned to create an electronic archive of sent materials?

    But the staff of the Higher Attestation Commission on these issues, alas, do not give any explanations - they are unlikely to give ...

    What should I do?

    Many representatives of the scientific community offer completely radical solutions to modern problems in the system of postgraduate and doctoral studies (see, for example, here) One can agree with many radical proposals - but one cannot but admit that at present they cannot be implemented. Below I will try to express a number of thoughts about the direction in which to move in reforming the dissertation system. It seems to me that you need to start with steps to reduce the level of bureaucratization of science. For example, here are these:

    1. A complete transition to electronic document management

    The Higher Attestation Commission suffers from the same ailment as the majority of state structures: during the declared transition to electronic document management, people continue to think with the realities of the “paper era”. The dissertation should not waste time, nerves and money on printing, weaving and subsequent transfer of materials. The dissertation and all supporting documents must be uploaded to the system via the web interface - and that’s all. Distribution of materials to the necessary authorities (opponents, leading organizations, libraries, etc.) can be carried out by elementary pressing of several buttons. Technically, all this is entirely feasible.

    2. Refusal from the practice of sending abstracts and the transition to public discussion of the results of dissertation research

    When I worked at a university, dozens of dissertation abstracts were regularly sent to our department. Most of the abstracts (if it was not about the work of friends who themselves asked us to write a review) no one ever read. With abstracts posted on the Internet, the situation is no better - almost no one reads them either. In addition, writing an abstract and preparing it for printing eats up a lot of money and time. Why do virtually no use work?
    History knows examples of a different approach to the publication of research results (as was the case in some countries where regulatory bodies exist, similar in function to our Higher Attestation Commission): a dissertation research is necessarily published in the form of a book, and then (after receiving and publishing the licenses in the open press) is sent to expertise. Based on the study of work and reviews, the expert decides to award a degree.
    The publication of each dissertation in the form of a book in the current circumstances will cost a pretty penny, but it’s quite possible to organize an open discussion on the Internet.
    Before defense, all materials (the text of the dissertation, reviews of official opponents and just people who got acquainted with the work) would be nice to post in the public domain with the possibility of commenting.

    3. Refusal from the List of leading peer-reviewed publications

    It is no secret that many publications in the so-called “Vakovsky” journals are an outright fiction. The main requirement for the publication should be the availability of its own page on the Internet and the availability of publications. Ideally, each jobseeker's publication should be available online. Publication reviews are also highly desirable.

    4. Improving communication between VAK and applicants

    For several years now, on the website of the Higher Attestation Commission, they began to quickly upload all the decisions of the presidium. The matter, of course, is good, but there is one thing BUT: it seems that employees of this respected organization have never heard the word "usability". See how these very decisions are laid out: in most cases, these are just heavyweight scans of paper documents.
    In addition, the search function is completely ugly implemented on the VAK website. The farther - the harder it is to find something sensible on it. But ideally, everything should be as follows: the applicant enters into the form the number of his own certification case - and then he receives information about the course of its consideration.
    It would be very useful to have a forum on the HAC website where applicants could receive first-hand answers and comments on issues of interest to them.

    Of course, the measures proposed by me are by no means a panacea, but they will nevertheless significantly facilitate the life of the applicant, save his time and nerves. In addition, they will help create the ground for further reform of the dissertation system.

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