TERTIARY institutions are to discuss how to halt academic abuses, following an inquiry set up to investigate allegations at the Hong Kong Polytechnic.
Pro-director of City Polytechnic, Professor Benjamin Tsou Kay-in, said: ''The problem must be discussed in depth.'' He said he would liaise with senior management of other tertiary institutions on how to deal with the problem.
City Polytechnic, he said, had taken a more ''pro-active'' role in controlling research malpractice by investigating not only cases formally raised but also those that management heard about informally.
Professor Tsou said there had been some cases of plagiarism and of staff unfairly taking credit for research over the past year or two, and some lecturers and students being punished. One of the staff involved had been asked to leave.
However, he said: ''No system is perfect. We are considering working out a better monitoring system.'' Vice-chancellor of the Chinese University, Professor Charles Kao Kuen, said: ''Professional integrity is as important as excellence in research. The alleged malpractice, if it exists, must be stopped.'' He said the university had established channels for grievances through which staff could lodge complaints which would be settled according to established procedure.
Calls for an inquiry into suspicions of abuse of power are brewing in a second department at Hong Kong Polytechnic. An investigation into allegations of research malpractice is already underway at one department.
