'Thesisgate' Continues to Blaze 徹查台大國發所論文? 教長:按法規處理

Legislators previously called for a complete investigation of the 173 theses at National Taiwan University's Graduate Institute of National Development overseen by professor Chen Ming-tong. The Ministry of Education and education associations may discuss how to make the thesis handling process more transparent next year.

The nine-in-one elections are over, but "Thesisgate" continues. Opposition legislators have called for a thorough investigation into the 173 theses overseen by National Taiwan University Graduate Institute of National Development professor Chen Ming-tong.

Pan Wen-chung, Education Minister: “If there are any specific cases of violations of academic ethics reported, then the Ministry of Education will directly ask universities to handle them in accordance with the essentials of their academic ethics procedures.”

Under current laws and practices, if someone reports a violation of academic ethics, universities will hold a meeting to discuss whether to accept to hear the case. Cases can't be investigated unless they are accepted. In other words, the 173 theses won't be examined unless someone denounces them and the university decides to examine them. Schools have different ways of handling thesis plagiarism cases. In the case of Lin Chih-chien, NTU held a press conference and publicly announced a part of its investigation results. In the cases of Cheng Wen-tsan, Tsai Shih-ying, Tsai Pi-ru, and Hsu Shu-hua, their respective schools issued brief written statements about the investigation results.   

Pan Wen-chung, Education Minister: “We hope to set up thesis investigation standards with universities that everyone, regardless of whether they're the implicated parties or society, can better understand.”

He Ming-kuo, Chairperson, Assoc. of Private Universities & Colleges: “Thesis comparisons have become the norm. In the past, it was much more difficult to compare them due to the limitations of those times. We will further discuss this issue with association members.”

Education Minister Pan Wen-chung says the Ministry of Education respects the autonomy of schools and their ability to make their own decisions. There are hopes that a consensus on handling individual cases, providing greater transparency, and establishing thesis-writing standards can be reached during a national conference of university presidents in January.

九合一大選落幕，論文門還沒停，在野黨立委要求徹查陳明通在台大國發所指導的173篇論文。

教育部長潘文忠說道：「如果有被檢舉提出具體的這些學倫的案件，教育部也會就直接請各大學，依照學倫處理的要點，來做這一方面的一個處理。」

按現行法規與程序，有人具名檢舉，大學開會討論受理，確定受理才召開學倫審定，換句話說，除非173篇都遭檢舉且受理，才有可能審定。不過外界質疑，因選舉引發的多起學倫爭議，林智堅論文台大開記者會，公開部分審定結果。鄭文燦、蔡適應、蔡壁如和許淑華，台大、台北大學、德明科大和逢甲大學，以書面簡短說明審定完成，處置有差異。

教育部長潘文忠指出：「包含我想在這個審查的這些機制上面，我們也希望能夠跟大學建立起一個，不管對當事人對社會，也都能夠有一個大家比較可以了解的這樣的方式。」

私立大學校院協進會理事長何明果表示：「整個論文比對現在已經是常態了，過去的時候因為這個可能年代久遠，你也很難去一個一個去查，我們會再跟協進會的會員，再討論這些事情。」

潘文忠強調，教育部尊重大學自治以及學術相關自主權，但社會很關注，希望透過明年1月的全國大學校長會議，從個案討論過程，朝資訊透明公開，論文寫作要求等面向去找出共識，也能維持學術品質。