Recently, public opinion has been stirred up by the fact that a group of Vietnamese authors had their article in the Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems published by Sage Publishing House rejected. The main author of the article is Associate Professor, Dr. Le Quang Thao, lecturer at the Physics Department, University of Science (Vietnam National University, Hanoi).

Notably, the list of authors also includes Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Diep, director of a study abroad consulting company based in Hanoi (corresponding author) and 3 high school students from the following schools: Reigate Grammar School, Nguyen Sieu Secondary and High School, and Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted.

The removed article, titled “Application of deep learning to wireless sensor networks to monitor emotions of high school students,” was published online on August 3, 2023, and was removed during an investigation campaign conducted by Sage Publishing from early 2024 to present.

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Publisher's removal notice.

According to the notice of removal, the publisher discovered that the article had one or more of the following signs: Citation manipulation, including citations unrelated to the content of the article; Confusing, redundant passages and distorted phrases; Possible unauthorized involvement of a third party in the submission process; Evidence of collusion between the author and reviewer that was not detected before the article was published; Citing articles that had been removed due to signs of third party involvement and manipulated review process.

What does the university say?

Speaking to VietNamNet reporter, Associate Professor Tran Quoc Binh, Vice Principal of the University of Natural Sciences, said that last week, the school learned that Associate Professor Le Quang Thao had a scientific article published in the Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems under Sage Publishing House withdrawn. After learning about the incident, the school asked Associate Professor Thao to clarify the matter.

“Mr. Thao reported that he had asked the magazine to provide a specific reason for the article being removed so that the matter could be clarified. Currently, the magazine has not responded to Mr. Thao’s request. The magazine’s opinion is very important because they are the ones who make the decision to accept and remove the article,” said Mr. Binh.

According to Mr. Binh, the fact that some high school students are co-authors in scientific research is an infrequent phenomenon, so it is easy to raise questions. However, what the school is more concerned about is the scientific contributions of these students to the research.

Similarly, the school also asked Mr. Thao to clarify the scientific contributions of Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Diep to the article. This is the main concern, not the address where Ms. Diep works.

"Currently, Mr. Thao is reviewing the research process (more than 2 years ago) to have a clear answer on this issue," said Mr. Binh.

Regarding the issue of scientific integrity, the Vice President of the University of Natural Sciences said that recently, the school has issued guidelines on ethics in scientific research to ensure research quality, limit risks and minimize misunderstandings and conflicts, if any, between parties involved in research activities.

Regarding the case of Associate Professor Le Quang Thao, Associate Professor Tran Quoc Binh said that the school will verify all information to have a basis for drawing an accurate conclusion from the perspective of complying with the principles of scientific integrity.

A French professor accused a Vietnamese master and doctor of arbitrarily translating books and selling each book for one million VND . A French professor accused a Vietnamese master, a resident physician who studied at Hanoi Medical University, of arbitrarily commercializing his book into Vietnamese without permission. The translation was even of poor quality, “full of errors”.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/pho-giao-su-bi-go-bai-bao-dung-ten-cung-hoc-sinh-2403566.html