Summary of the Core Content
This news report exposes a "fraudulent ecosystem" within Vietnam's academic community: Some universities (such as Sun Tatseng University and Vinh Xuan University) have resorted to paying external researchers to co-author papers, thereby rapidly increasing their paper output and international rankings. This practice stems from the fact that Vietnam uses the number of published papers as a key indicator for professional promotions, research funding applications, and university rankings, creating a short-term incentive for fraud. Civil society volunteers (such as the Facebook group led by Yang Wenxu) have played a role in pushing for the introduction of academic integrity regulations. However, whether these regulations can address the root issue depends on whether the evaluation system shifts from a focus on quantity to quality.
Detailed Analysis
1. **"Buying Co-authorships": A Cheating Shortcut for University Rankings**
Sun Tatseng University's approach is straightforward: It allocates 10%-14% of its student tuition fees as a budget to sign contracts with researchers from both domestic and international institutions. As long as the researchers list Sun Tatseng University as the paper's affiliation, they receive payment. These researchers do not need to attend classes or conduct actual research; some are not even employees of the university. For example, a Thai teacher co-authored 70 papers in one year, while a professor from the Department of Civil Engineering co-authored nearly 60 papers (which is considered excellent for a scientist). As a result, Sun Tatseng University has climbed to ranks 301-400 globally in mathematics (the highest in Vietnam), yet the country's truly prestigious research institutions in mathematics do not even make it into the top 500. This is akin to buying fake reviews for an online store—although the ratings appear high, there is no real substance behind them.
2. **The Prevalence of Fraud: A System That Encourages Misconduct**
Why do universities spend this money? Because Vietnam regards papers published in international journals (indexed by Scopus and Web of Science) as highly valuable indicators for professor evaluations, research funding applications, and university rankings. After the reform of university autonomy, institutions were allowed to set their own reward policies, making it a short-term profitable strategy to boost rankings by increasing paper output and attracting more students (thus generating more tuition revenue). Paper mills have also contributed to this phenomenon, with Russian websites like 123mi.ru selling paper authorship rights for up to $5,000 per paper, with Vietnam being one of their top customers. At the individual level, professors in countries like Pakistan may rely on co-authoring papers with other universities to earn extra income, even though they have to pay a 30% commission to their own institutions—often due to a lack of sufficient resources.
3. **Civil Society Efforts to Combat Fraud**
Yang Wenxu, a Vietnamese scholar living in the United States, became concerned about these practices and began analyzing the paper data from Sun Tatseng University in 2020. She discovered that many of the highly productive foreign authors were not actually working at the university. She then created a Facebook group called "Invasive Aliens in Science," which was later renamed "Academic Integrity." This group acted like an academic detective team, with members verifying paper details, researching author backgrounds, and reporting their findings to the media and journals. Although the group was temporarily deleted by Facebook (possibly due to a report from someone involved in fraud), it was reactivated four days later and grew from several thousand to 300,000 members. Their efforts led to policy changes: Vietnam began incorporating integrity checks into professor evaluations and introduced national guidelines on academic integrity, as well as holding the first national conference on the topic. This is similar to how online communities expose fake products, forcing regulatory authorities to take action.
4. **New Regulations: A Band-Aid Solution or a Fundamental Change?**
In 2026, Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology introduced the country's first framework for academic integrity, explicitly banning AI-generated fraud (such as using AI to create fake data and references). Penalties include warnings, manuscript retraction, funding revocation, exclusion from research projects, and even lifelong bans. However, Yang Wenxu is concerned that inadequate enforcement will render these regulations ineffective—just like having traffic rules without anyone enforcing them. A deeper issue is that as long as the evaluation system focuses on paper quantity, universities and researchers will continue to be incentivized to cheat. European researchers have pointed out that this is similar to the use of doping in sports; without an independent anti-doping agency, strict regulations alone are insufficient.
5. **A Global Challenge: When Will Academic Evaluation Focus on Quality Over Quantity?**
Vietnam's problem is not unique. Scotland requires universities to report findings on academic misconduct, Peru prohibits individuals with retracted papers from receiving grants, and Indian researchers must disclose such information when applying for funding. Spanish professors have been suspended for up to 13 years due to fraudulent co-authorship. These examples show that countries around the world are addressing academic fraud, but the key lies in changing the evaluation system. We cannot continue to rely solely on the number of papers published; we need to place more emphasis on the actual value of research. Otherwise, no matter how strict the regulations, loopholes will always exist.
Conclusion
The root cause of academic fraud is a system that prioritizes quantity over quality. Only by shifting the focus from paper output to research quality can we truly eliminate fraudulent practices. Otherwise, even the most stringent regulations will only provide temporary solutions.