tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post3465617067542314006..comments2024-03-21T20:10:28.943+08:00Comments on EDUCATION IN MALAYSIA: Open letter to Tok PaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-47493883138302597572007-12-22T10:40:00.000+08:002007-12-22T10:40:00.000+08:00"Phantom writers an 'open secret'"By : Azura Abas ..."Phantom writers an 'open secret'"<BR/>By : Azura Abas and Minderjeet Kaur (NST 2007/12/22)<BR/>"Hundreds of master's and PhD students are getting "professional thesis writers" to pen their theses."<BR/>If they have no problem submitting fraudulent work for their degrees, they should also have no ethical problem in making up data for publication. I won't be surprised at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-79367924155893922542007-12-16T13:49:00.000+08:002007-12-16T13:49:00.000+08:00tak-faham, how much do they pay for a paper? I th...tak-faham, how much do they pay for a paper? I think this practice encourages people to publish by whatever means..by hook or by crook. That is something I am afraid would happen ..that the pressure being exerted on these people to publish would end up with people making up data for publication. Because there is now a monetary incentive. This would make the situation worst because it would end up casting a bad light on Malaysian papers and even affecting other legitimate papers. Probably research students already aware of such practices.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-79241262569035651342007-12-14T17:49:00.000+08:002007-12-14T17:49:00.000+08:00Academics are employed to teach, conduct research,...Academics are employed to teach, conduct research, publish, mentor and supervise, contribute to the growth of knowledge in one or more fields, carry out some administrative duties, etc.<BR/><BR/>Now, it seems that our public universities are giving out cash to their academics who publish papers in ISI-listed journals.<BR/><BR/>Is this a fair and proper practice? Academics are already paid a salary. And now universities are using taxpayers' money to give monetary reward to academics doing a job which is part of their job descriptions!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-75186580953069250952007-12-04T00:18:00.000+08:002007-12-04T00:18:00.000+08:00A requirement of 3 citations/yr is easy. I have a...A requirement of 3 citations/yr is easy. I have about 512 which is more than enough for another 25 years when I retire without walking into my lab.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-3686440159424473972007-12-03T01:48:00.000+08:002007-12-03T01:48:00.000+08:00I was directing my comment to that guy who mention...I was directing my comment to that guy who mentioned 3 citations/yr and the guy who bad-mouthed everybody else.<BR/>My high citation count was because that work was key to a long-standing problem in that area. It was also the result of a joint work with about 7 other people at 2 institutions. It got us a patent and a license though I haven't seen a penny yet. Actually many people just cite references without looking for the original paper itself but by just copying another paper's references or reading about a paper from another paper, which I do very often. So, it can propagate very fast. <BR/>Did those few papers with high citation scores get me a huge raise? No, I only got an average raise just like anybody else because high citation score to us is not something very special. <BR/>My point is that using an average citation of say 3 per year does not make sense to me because if somebody hit a few good papers, he would be set for life without doing anything else. It is difficult for me to think highly of somebody who published a few good papers 10 or 20 years ago but have not done anything since. I believe that annual number of peer-reviewed publications would be a better indication of consistent research work. If one gets good citation scores, then that is just icing on the cake. There is actually a formula that some institutions use to take into account both the number of publications and the number of citations to evaluate a faculty member.<BR/>I myself have published many papers with negligible citations and I know it is not that easy even to publish duds like that. So, I wouldn't put too much weight on citations. Doing so would just trivialise the efforts of people who work hard just to publish.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-91089941005885423622007-12-02T20:17:00.000+08:002007-12-02T20:17:00.000+08:00Hey, wait a minute… 2k citations in the last 5 yea...Hey, wait a minute… 2k citations in the last 5 years?? Do u know what is that mean?? Considering the JIF for a top science journal Nature (26.681) & Science (30.028)… that’s mean average citation for this top journal is about 30 per paper… let say u’re far excellence than everybody & your paper got 25% higher citation than of any paper in Nature & Science… so it come 40/paper… & also assuming that u publish all u paper in Nature & Science… so 2k/40 = 50 journal in nature & Science in the last 5 yrs… because nobody really do publish such frequent in Nature & Science in the last 5 yrs so I can just said your 2k citations in web of science might not all yours… mind u, if I wanna search for Tan KK in web of science it will return me a 2555 citations… are they’re a same person? Certainly not… I’ve a friend namely Tan KK from Cambridge & he certainly don’t own all those 2555 citations, bcoz I know what field he is in & where he is working. It is quite tedious to search for specific number of citation in web of science but that certainly not the case in scopus where u can specify the department & institution where u’re affiliated with… even a Prof from Cambridge publishing 20+ journal/yr only have 256 citation in the last 5 yrs (2003-2007)…<BR/>you’re great anyway… hv a nice look on scopus & web of science… I know u’ve a good intention to Msian edu as everybody else in this forum…Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-69487583354174570492007-12-02T20:07:00.000+08:002007-12-02T20:07:00.000+08:002000 citations in the last 5 years, wow amazing, y...2000 citations in the last 5 years, wow amazing, you must be in the highly cited list then, one of which none of Malaysian base researcher manage to accomplish. You must be from either bio or medic or pharma related discipline. People like you should be a VC in Malaysia premier university, if not become Ministry of Higher Education so than you can set the rule & example to everybody.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-77457576755889829722007-12-01T09:49:00.000+08:002007-12-01T09:49:00.000+08:00OFF TOPIC:It has been more than a month since our ...OFF TOPIC:<BR/><BR/>It has been more than a month since our "Angkasawan' returned to our planet Earth after a few days doing great and breakthrough research in the International Station sponsored by our Rakyaats money to the sum of 100 million RM<BR/><BR/>I bet with enough time has been given to analyse the scientific experiments or samples returned to Earth.<BR/><BR/>I was wondering when will our government or those involved in the design and preparation of the experiments will proudly tell us Malaysians and the world about the 'edge cutting ' experiments results? Or are the 'samples' lost in some courier services?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-49134699456049715142007-12-01T04:28:00.000+08:002007-12-01T04:28:00.000+08:00To Anon 12/01/2007 12:32:00 AM:I asked Anon of 11/...To Anon 12/01/2007 12:32:00 AM:<BR/>I asked Anon of 11/29/2007 11:28:00PM how NUS goes about calculating the citation. That is a genuine question because his comment was not clear. For instance, I just checked Web of Science and I have about 400 citations for each of the last 5 years. Now what do you do with that? Average of 2000/5 = 400 citations per year; and if you need only 3 citations per year, does that mean I can sit around doing nothing for another 20 years till I retire and still be within that target of 3 per year? You know that doesn't make sense and that is why I asked that person to elaborate.<BR/>Then you gave me this shit about "... & also if you're not in academic line at all or never publish any journal in what you all call a 'reputable' journal or you never teach in oversea univ then you don't deserve to post any fishy comment abt this matter..." .<BR/>You didn't even know whether you were talking to a faculty member in the US or Malaysia and you gave me this smart-assed comment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-46525419890960402522007-12-01T03:53:00.000+08:002007-12-01T03:53:00.000+08:00to anon 12/01/2007 12:32:00 AM,i think you direly ...to anon 12/01/2007 12:32:00 AM,<BR/><BR/>i think you direly need an attitude change in your handling of other people's comments. <BR/><BR/>your "if you're not in academic line at all or never publish any journal in what you all call a 'reputable' journal or you never teach in oversea univ then you don't deserve to post any fishy comment abt this matter" is akin to the all too familiar phrases we hear in msia :"if youre not muslim, dun comment on our syariah laws", "if youre not malay, dun comment on our special rights", and other not so local ones such as "youre not chinese, dun comment on the human rights abuses in china", "youre not a saudi woman, dun comment on how women in saudi arabia are treated".<BR/><BR/>from the way you respond to the opinions of others in a free forum, its hard to see youre an academic. well, perhaps youre not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-69846754487864340072007-12-01T01:03:00.000+08:002007-12-01T01:03:00.000+08:00But papers which are continuously cited through ti...But papers which are continuously cited through time are of course the most important ones.<BR/><BR/>~Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-59298233680752676742007-12-01T01:01:00.000+08:002007-12-01T01:01:00.000+08:00Citation only shows that the work is trendy. Revol...Citation only shows that the work is trendy. Revolutionary ideas take much longer to be cited. Papers that are not cited are not necessary poor. This is why academics need to network extensively too, so that other academics may cite their work to make it become important.<BR/><BR/>~Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-38738554174586035482007-12-01T00:32:00.000+08:002007-12-01T00:32:00.000+08:00citation can be calculated in yearly basis, I'm ve...citation can be calculated in yearly basis, I'm very sure about that... if you have a full access to SCOPUS or Web of Science (ISI Thompson) as many Univ has then you'll see what I mean... & also if you're not in academic line at all or never publish any journal in what you all call a 'reputable' journal or you never teach in oversea univ then you don't deserve to post any fishy comment abt this matter... Also you must know how the ranking is calculated, what is the flaw of each ranking etc before you can comment... I'm personally not happy to see our local U performance & the way they're managed, their recruitment, promotion & admission procedure etc but that it is... our univ is like that bcoz they're not totally free from political influence & also bcoz they didn't exercise the merit system properly... unless a very drastic change made, there is absolutely nothing we could do to save our univ...<BR/>To those who oppose the idea of using citation as a performance indicator then you might actually have more paper but very less citation, bcoz that is the only reason why you don't agree... ok in my opinion at least the lecturer performance evaluation should take into account number of publication, citation & number of 'peer reviewer' invitation from international journal... but in Msia only number of publication count & even than including conference, medal etc hahahaha funny but trueAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-33808247729434859162007-11-30T23:00:00.000+08:002007-11-30T23:00:00.000+08:00Anon of 11/29/2007 11:28:00 PM:Can you elaborate o...Anon of 11/29/2007 11:28:00 PM:<BR/>Can you elaborate on how NUS go about calculating the citation? Is it an average over several years? I am curious because citation is a delayed event appearing even years after the publication of a paper. So, I just wonder how you all use it as an annual job evaluation tool.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-80746284029012805262007-11-30T22:18:00.000+08:002007-11-30T22:18:00.000+08:00The university rankings are just a reflection of t...The university rankings are just a reflection of the underlying education system as a whole. <BR/><BR/>Came across this economist article sheds a bit more light on where the focus should be: http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9989914Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-24084386078150867012007-11-30T11:29:00.000+08:002007-11-30T11:29:00.000+08:00Did anyone read the write up international islamic...Did anyone read the write up international islamic univeristy in the star today? the idiots were boasting about the number of medals that they had won at those usless trade exhibitions, dont they have any shame even after all they have been exposed as rubbish. the other was research collabaration with iran of all countries, my god what in the world is good with iranian universities that u want to conduct research with them? they have their heads under the sand and if they really believe that malaysia is gonna turn into an international education hub they must be criminally delusional. soon malaysian universites and proton will end up in the same place, the grave.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-24139776370321636292007-11-30T10:26:00.000+08:002007-11-30T10:26:00.000+08:00Anon 11:28If our academics get the research papers...Anon 11:28<BR/>If our academics get the research papers publish in high impact and widely cited journal, chances are they stand a better chance of being cited eventually due to their rigour and visibility.<BR/>But I do agree with you that ultimately it should be citation instead of publication. But I dare say that at this stage our academics have the tendency to opt for publications in the easy journals, albeit international because the incentive mechanisms do not discriminate between top tier and low tier international journals. Our IPTAs have a long way to go, and must not succumb to the soft option. I have every confident that our Tok Pa has the support to undo the dysfunctional entrenched culture in our IPTAs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-48131916446810126422007-11-29T23:28:00.000+08:002007-11-29T23:28:00.000+08:00....the annual salary increment and promotional ex.......the annual salary increment and promotional exercises should have given more weight to publications in high-impact and widely cited journals...<BR/><BR/>Publication is not counted there in the ranking my friend, just CITATION.. we can measure it, i guess all Msia public Univ has sciencedirect which mean they can track all their citation in SCOPUS.. after all thes use scopus... NUS never count your publication, they only ask for minimum 3 citation for you to just stay in your position, not for salary rise..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-73395041211248382082007-11-28T20:50:00.000+08:002007-11-28T20:50:00.000+08:00Kian MingAt the moment, the pergerakan gaji tahuna...Kian Ming<BR/>At the moment, the pergerakan gaji tahunan exercise which determines the annual salary increment the university lecturer gets is too heavily dependent on the exam-oriented Penilaian Tahap Kecekapan (PTK). If the KPT is really serious in getting our IPTAs to climb up the THES ladder and make a mark in the Top 200, the annual salary increment and promotional exercises should have given more weight to publications in high-impact and widely cited journals, rather than other meaningless and dubious achievements aka academic excellence Malaysian style, if you like.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-39151513235525500802007-11-28T19:19:00.000+08:002007-11-28T19:19:00.000+08:00It's funny that with the apparent decay of our edu...It's funny that with the apparent decay of our education system in addition to rising tensions in our society...our former premier Dr. Tun who had credited himself for just about everything great and imagined, and who had not too recently developed a penchant for sniping at just about anyone - has nothing to say at all. His silence is deafening.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-17770470760903886982007-11-28T15:42:00.000+08:002007-11-28T15:42:00.000+08:00another pathetic act.KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 (Bernama...another pathetic act.<BR/><BR/>KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 (Bernama) -- The International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) won four gold medals at the Innova-Energy 2007 international exhibition in Brussels on Sunday.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-65374248688112180212007-11-26T22:12:00.000+08:002007-11-26T22:12:00.000+08:00Here is my take on joint professorial appointments...Here is my take on joint professorial appointments<BR/><BR/>http://tempinis.wordpress.com/2007/11/25/its-like-being-in-love-with-someone-who-doesnt-love-you-back/#respondAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-19503857244160056652007-11-26T14:41:00.000+08:002007-11-26T14:41:00.000+08:00KM.Why beat around the bush or be sarcastic? With ...KM.<BR/>Why beat around the bush or be sarcastic? With these jokers you go direct and hit the nail on the head.<BR/>Dont waste time being prosaic or berpantun...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-2828122038059177202007-11-26T13:10:00.000+08:002007-11-26T13:10:00.000+08:00Still the same point, education has to be free fro...Still the same point, education has to be free from political influences. Period.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-27027454288931706362007-11-26T11:40:00.000+08:002007-11-26T11:40:00.000+08:00Kian Ming, massification is an American concept I ...Kian Ming, massification is an American concept I think.<BR/><BR/>I prefer the Singapore concept. (Stop thinking negative. We should learn if we need, no matter from who.)<BR/><BR/>Singapore has this quota system. It started with only top 15% of Singaporeans can go to their Universities. Then it increased to 20% when their economy was on track. Now they are increasing to 25%.<BR/><BR/>I see value in this incremental % according to market needs and your economy planning. Your Universities have top talents. Your graduates are confirmed good without questions. Investors are more willing to employ your graduates, your University rankings go up. And your economy goes up with all these. The cycle goes on.<BR/><BR/>Giving a degree to everyone, does nothing, except cheapen the value of your degree. And confuse your employers at just who is good and who is not. It also gives you huge unemployment.<BR/><BR/>I disagree with forcefully keeping talents in Malaysia. We must allow competition, then our Universities will fight and gain grounds.<BR/><BR/>Compare European/American Universities who have to compete for students, and India who basically gives scholarships to everyone to stay back in India. India only has 1 or 2 good IITs (but they make it sound like they have 500), and America and Europe has almost all the best Universities in the world.<BR/><BR/>Let's us not be protectionistic. We should be proud that we can compete.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com