Cobra Effect Scientific Publications

KOMPAS/HERYUNANTO

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Research and publication of scientific works are the most important benchmarks for evaluating a lecturer's productivity. The higher the academic position of the lecturer, the greater the percentage weight for their research and publication of scientific works.

Therefore, it is not uncommon for lecturers to be hindered in their careers because they cannot fulfill the research and publication requirements for their academic position. However, if in a year there are lecturers who are able to produce tens to hundreds of research studies published in reputable journals, in a methodological and procedural manner, it is highly doubtful.

How to explain a lecturer who is able to produce hundreds of articles published in journals in a year?

The simple answer is to use the many and varied applications of artificial intelligence (AI) today. You can also use ghost writer which is widely available offering its services, both personal and institutional.

Also read: Black Pedagogy of Higher Education

Apart from that, you can also utilize students' final assignments for thesis, thesis or dissertation guidance for publication. Others can take the route of gathering articles for scientific publications in reputable international journals, especially those indexed Scopus.

Some of them are disguised as training, mentoring, or openly charge a fee for an article to be published. This is actually the tip of the iceberg in the academic world which is very terrifying. This concerns the morality, integrity, and academic quality of higher education.

Therefore, understanding it is not as simple as the answer. Some of the causes are related to regulations, the academic climate of universities, mentality, research abilities and the academic writing abilities of lecturers which are still very low.

Cobra effect

The cobra effect is a well-intentioned action to overcome a problem. However, often this action backfires because it has the opposite effect.

The term cobra effect was coined by economist Horst Siebert based on an anecdotal incident in India during British rule. Initially, the British government was concerned about the high population of poisonous cobras in the city of Delhi.

Then, they offered a reward for anyone who handed over a dead cobra. Initially, this strategy was successful, as many residents handed over killed cobras to receive the reward. However, in the end, many people instead started breeding cobras to get the reward.

It seems that this anecdote is fitting to describe a part of the portrayal of academic publications by professors in Indonesia. Initially, there was concern from the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education at that time about the low number of researches published in reputable international journals, particularly those indexed in Scopus.

Then, policies and strategic actions were designed to increase the number of publications in reputable international journals. One of these policies is to establish specific requirements for research publications in Scopus-indexed international journals for career advancement, faculty positions, and doctoral degree requirements.

It seems that existence is more sought after than the essence of lecturers as researchers.

Through policy interventions, the government believed that it could surpass Malaysia's international publications within two years. True enough, in 2016, the number of scientific publications by Indonesian lecturers in Scopus-indexed journals reached 9,457 works. This achievement surpassed the target set by the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education, which set a number of 6,229 at the time.

This quantity achievement also increased compared to 2015 of 7,639 works (Kompas, 29/12/2016).

Meanwhile, the internal parties of the university are also making policy adjustments to boost the increase of the number of research published in reputable international journals.

In addition to implementing specific publication requirements in reputable international journals for doctoral students, several universities provide significant awards for lecturers who successfully publish their research in Scopus-indexed international journals.

Even to the point of being given incentives and bonuses after their articles are published. As a result, many lecturers are tempted to take shortcuts in order to quickly and easily publish their articles in reputable international journals.

The temptation arises because at the same time, many article writing service brokers appear for publication in international journals. Initially, their numbers were not many. The offering of article writing and publication services was done secretly. However, currently, the situation is very brutal because their numbers have grown rapidly.

Even article brokers and scientific publications have started actively promoting themselves openly by placing official advertisements through various social media channels.

In a broader context at the same time, many international journals indexed by Scopus are included in the list of predatory journals. Paid journals, without a good blind peer review process, articles can easily quick and easy to publish straight away.

This phenomenon represents a meeting between article producers, Scopus-indexed journal producers, and academics with weak faith in their academic integrity, easily swayed and tempted by shortcuts to publish scientific works. How could they not be swayed when offered the opportunity to produce an article in just one day that is ready to be published in a Scopus journal?

With the help of various AI applications, they are trained to write quickly without in-depth research procedures and academically accountable methods.

Some among the lecturers and doctoral students secretly choose a shortcut by using the services of article breeders who collaborate with Scopus journal breeders.

I had to disguise myself as one of the customers to understand the inside aspects of such shady practices. Others may be tempted by tempting rewards or simply improving academic performance.

To enhance scientific publication in Scopus-indexed journals, they utilize research conducted by students under thesis or dissertation guidance for publication. As a result, it is not surprising to find productive lecturers in publishing scientific work in reputable international journals. In fact, there are lecturers who can publish more than 160 works in a year.

Also read: Black Pedagogy of Higher Education

Thus, the quantity of publications increased beyond reasonable limits, but the quality of the publication procedures was highly questionable. A study conducted by researchers at Charles University, Prague, entitled "Predatory Publishing in Scopus: Evidence on Cross-Country Differences" published in the journal Quantitative Science Studies in 2022 shows that Indonesia is the second country that publishes the most scientific work in predatory journals indexed by Scopus in 2015-2017.

Back to the right way

Lecturers are essentially researchers who are given additional tasks to teach and serve the community. If lecturers do not conduct research, then what will they teach to their students, and what will become the basis for their community service?

This essence appears to be starting to erode in the character of lecturers. Instead of conducting research and publishing with good and proper quality, many lecturers choose to become structural officials, YouTubers, speakers, talk shows, or motivators. It seems that they are more focused on their existence rather than the essence of being a researcher.

As organic personnel, lecturers are also required to fulfill various specific requirements for publishing research in scientific journals. For example, the accreditation system for study programs and the Integrated Information and Resource System (Sister) from the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education, make the publication of lecturers' scientific publications an important aspect for the accreditation and academic career of lecturers. This system inevitably becomes work pressure for lecturers to publish their scientific works in various journals in accordance with the specific requirements of their academic rank and position.

The government's good intentions to improve the quality of education through the productivity of research publications in journals has led to a shortcut culture opened by article farmers and Scopus-indexed journal farmers.

This phenomenon can bring lecturers closer to existence because they have many publications, but it actually distances them from the essence of being a reputable researcher. There are at least three things that need to be done to ensure that this academic journey of lecturers does not go astray on the wrong path.

First, it is necessary to review various regulations and policies at the government and university level.

For example, changing the mandatory publication scheme in Scopus journals as a condition for completing a doctoral degree to become a special requirement for achieving a cum laude degree. Or changing scientific publications in reputable international journals as a special condition for promotion to an academic position to a scientific consortium.

This assumes the involvement of peer colleagues in the same scientific field to objectively assess a scientific work as a requirement for academic promotion. This first group includes a review of various forms of awards for faculty members who are able to publish their research in reputable international journals, based on related scientific consortia.

Some among the lecturers and doctoral students secretly choose a shortcut by using the services of article breeders who collaborate with Scopus journal breeders.

Second, it is necessary to hold an academic writing clinic (academic writing clinic) in every university which functions as a rehabilitation place for lecturers who have fallen into the trap of the cobra effect.

Intensive mentoring and socialization can be carried out to explain the new culture of the academic world in today's digital era. This includes providing intensive training on research, journal publication literacy. In this section, lecturers need to be given a new understanding of the research climate and international publication referring to international ethical standards, such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

It should be understood that research for a thesis, dissertation, or paper differs from research intended for publication in reputable international journals.

Thirdly, building a new awareness within every lecturer about their academic career perspective. The essence of a lecturer is being a researcher who is assigned with additional tasks of teaching and serving the community. This does not mean that lecturers who conduct extensive research and publications have good academic performance. Nor does it mean that lecturers who conduct less research and publications have poor academic performance.

However, the current data system can easily reveal the portrait of ethical fairness and integrity of lecturers. Various systems for compiling academic publications data can be scrutinized to assess whether lecturers have many or few scientific publications with high or low ethical and integrity standards.

ARSIP PRIBADI

Iswandi Syahputra

Iswandi Syahputra, Professor at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta; Executive Director of Jogja Academic Writing and Reading Bootcamp (Jawab)