Don't you mean to ask whether the "originality and ANY declaration" subsequently made by the person WHO BROKE DOWN AND DELEGATED TO UNDERLINGS his/her PhD and M/Phil research work is questionable? More to the point, wouldn't you like to know whether the learned community considers such a strategy for earning a degree in a science of the mind ethical? Gwen

Thank you Gwen,

I understand this crisis. However some of the Universities offer such facilities but without seriously concern about the ethics in it. Some even argue that the breaking down process is correct but as a true researchers, as you rightly pointed out, the originality stands. Declarations are made by all and such things are not focused in any forum due to the trust on the academics. GM

Given this conspiracy of silence within parts of the academy, you are performing a public service by bringing a questionable practice to light in this forum. Thank you for caring, Gunasingham! I will monitor the responses that you get closely. Gwen

True. The Conscience, Scientific Ethics and Morality speaks...

The PhD degree is an award given to an individual who had carried out original and significant research. To break the research endeavour into bits as you have suggested and to put the bits together in one coherent whole is to be disingenuous. I do not consider the researcher in question worthy of being conferred with the highest degree in the academia.

Ethics is monitored through Ethical Review Committees only at the stage of applying for ethical clearance. But for publishing this mechanism is not practiced. The case is worse when the predatory journals publishes many articles by getting publication fee - as an open access article. The question is that is there any mechanism to check or monitor ethics? Academia is poised by some due to these chilly attitude.

Gunasingham, are you speaking of the ethics monitoring that occurs when human test subjects are being used? Or, are there actually Ethical Review Committees investigating the scruples of the "scientific" investigator at the time he sets out to organize his research project? In other words, do these Committees actually look at the proposed methodology (for instance 100% delegation of work to underlings) before giving an investigator ethical clearance? Or, are they just concerned with the investigator following protocol in getting the informed consent of his/her test subjects? Gwen

Mikunthan posed the question in a very nice way. I will reset the question in a more direct way like this: Is it ethical to earn your Ph.D for free by just piecing some research works done by the undergrads? This is actually happening . Some institutions grant " friendship Ph.D." to guys from developing countries. It is an unacceptable practice. It is a disgrace.

When you are the leader of a big research project. you can use your talent to break the research topic into smaller experiments suitable to help many students to finish their degrees. You can piece all outputs up to show the achievements of the project but you cannot use all these materials for your own Ph.D. degree. Simply, scientific contributions of every individuals must be recognized and these did not come from your own experimentation.

This practice must be stopped if we want to have Ph.D's who can stand on their own feet

Ph.Ds are awarded for individual's work and not for groups work. Involvement of too many people makes it a mess. Undergraduates work mechanically and in the process ,u miss out some of the accidental findings which cannot be perceived by the young brains. Above all it is immoral to get the work done by Undergraduate students and use the work done by them to get a Ph.D . It is immoral, Unethical .

Thank you Vinh and Sesha,

I see the reality through your comments. Originality speaks on any degree and no compensation or complement on either part. As mentioned, the top professionals obtain research grant and easily work on it by pooling undergrads. As correctly mentioned by Sesha, the possibility of missing the findings is obvious, however these professionals slice the project into a convenient form and give them as tasks to the undergrads. The pain taking message is that those findings of the Undergrads too is not reported in their name and major portion of the findings are rest with the professonal - because of his capacity as Primary investigator of the Grant.

This unethical intervention is never pointed out and often appreciated.

I consider the purpose of Ph.D. research is to prepare a student on several areas e.g. conceptualization of a problem in his/her area of research, working out the details of approach/methodology to address the objectives, solving the problem as detailed in the approach and summarize the results. Now if this is broken down and are being implemented by more than one undergrads, assuming that they have not conceptualize the problem, would be unscientific and unethical.