Xinhua News Agency, Yinchuan, December 7th Question: Strict requirements? The task moves down? What is the requirement of publishing a thesis for master’s degree?
Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Wenxi
In the recruitment season, most students have been involved in the tide of job hunting. However, recently, some graduate students who are studying for a master’s degree have reported that the requirement of publishing papers in journals before graduation has become a major event that worries them more than finding a job. The reporter’s investigation found that it is not a case to require papers to be published in professional academic journals or even core journals before graduation, and for what purpose is this requirement reasonable?
The thesis requires worrying about some graduate students.
"When I entered the school, I learned that I had to publish two papers in professional academic journals to meet the graduation requirements. I started to prepare from the next semester, but now I haven’t seen any papers. This year, the college proposed to publish a core Chinese journal of Peking University. Now I am in the mood to find a job and I am preoccupied with papers." Liu Qian, a third-year graduate student in a university in Ningxia, is quite helpless about the requirements of the school’s paper publication.
She told reporters that at present, there are very few people who meet the graduation requirements for publishing college papers: "There are nearly 20 graduates in our college this year, less than half of which meet the requirements for general journals, and even fewer of them are published in core journals."
The reporter’s investigation found that there are not a few universities with similar paper requirements. Some schools only require papers to be published in professional journals. For example, Shaoxing University of Arts and Sciences requires that "master students should publish at least one scientific research achievement related to their discipline and major during their studies." Some schools also specify the scope of relevant journals. For example, Xinxiang Medical College requires that "natural science graduates with academic degrees should publish at least one paper in the statistical source journal of scientific papers in China, and social science graduates should publish at least one paper in a magazine above CN, excluding conference papers, summaries, abstracts, short stories, etc."
"All disciplines and majors need to formulate requirements for publishing graduate papers according to the characteristics of disciplines and majors, but not lower than the standards required by schools" … … Most schools also give majors or tutors the right to raise standards, but no matter what the requirements, most schools require students to publish papers with the school as the first author unit, signature unit or communication unit.
What are the requirements for periodical papers?
How difficult is it to study for a master’s degree with similar thesis requirements? Dozens of interviewees have different opinions on studying for a master’s degree. Most of them think it is difficult compared with the master’s degree in humanities and social sciences, while the master’s degree in science and engineering thinks this requirement is not difficult. However, they generally believe that whether the paper can be published has a great relationship with the project and guidance in the hands of the tutor, and it is not easy to study and publish it on their own.
"Many students in our class who have published in core journals are published on the basis of tutor topics." Liu Qian said that in general, it takes at least half a year from submission to publication for core journals, and the time for reviewing manuscripts is one to three months, not counting the time for rejecting and revising manuscripts, and it is impossible to "submit more than one manuscript", and the time for "trial and error" for submitting manuscripts is too short. However, the general publication is much easier, and in the end it is really not possible to spend money to buy it.
During the interview, some interviewees said that in order to meet the requirements of the paper, they had spent money to publish papers in some journals with small impact factors.
"My baby called and said ‘ Mom, I have good news for you. My paper will be published ’ I was still happy at first. He immediately asked me to pay him a 1000 yuan page fee. I don’t understand how to use my article and spend money? " Chi Wah Ling, Xi ‘an City, Shaanxi Province, was puzzled by the publication of children’s papers.
The reporter searched on the search engine and an e-commerce website with the keyword "publication of papers", and the results were "hundreds of thousands". A related practitioner told the reporter that he could guarantee to see the publication in provincial journals, and if it was "urgent", he would just pay more money, and if it was unsuccessful, he would guarantee a refund.
Why do colleges and universities require masters to publish papers? Several college teachers have different opinions on this matter. Some people think that this move is the proper meaning of building a high-level university, and strict requirements can encourage students to study hard and make progress, which is a targeted measure to reverse the current ills of higher education. Opponents believe that the graduation thesis written by the master can achieve the purpose of training and assessment. If the examination of the graduation thesis is strictly required, it is only necessary to require the master to publish the thesis, which is to "move down" the tasks of the school and assign the tasks that should be undertaken by the school and teachers to the students.
The paper requires flexibility rather than rigidity.
As early as 2006, at the University Presidents’ Forum held in Beijing, seven universities including China Renmin University, Beijing Normal University and China Agricultural University cancelled the hard target of "graduate students must publish papers", and the relevant departments of the Ministry of Education also made it clear in an interview that the Ministry of Education did not require this, but why did some universities still require papers to be published?
The interviewed students, experts and scholars believe that at the moment when self-worth is becoming more and more diversified, continuing to engage in academic research is not the development direction of all masters. They suggest that the requirements for publishing papers for masters should be soft rather than rigid.
"At present, the level of master’s training in domestic universities is uneven. The school requires that master’s papers should not be judged simply and in isolation, and specific problems need to be analyzed." Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the China Academy of Educational Sciences, believes that the requirement for universities to publish master’s papers should be formulated by professional organizations in combination with specific schools, colleges and majors. It would be biased if it is stipulated across the board, or if the number of papers is blindly increased, and the number of papers is blindly sought after.
Wang Di, a teacher of sociology department in Peking University, said that the publication of master’s thesis should first distinguish between educational objectives and training methods, and the two should not be confused. The purpose of training master’s degree in colleges and universities is to improve their research ability, and publishing papers is the result of improving their research ability, which is only one of the training methods, and means cannot be regarded as the goal; Secondly, it is necessary to distinguish between assessment indicators and educational tasks. The school’s publishing indicators and academic rankings are assessment tasks, and it is not advisable to train students to complete the tasks. Third, it is necessary to distinguish between academic and professional graduate students and teach them in accordance with their aptitude.