"Thesis Shop" sells more than 100 SCI papers online
The gunman’s shopkeeper claims that the sale of papers is "not illegal".
"Thesis writers" sell papers on the essay shop.
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Ten years ago, the reporter used "Dr. Fang Nu Sells 8 SCI Papers in One Year" as the topic to expose an online sale of papers by a doctoral student working in Shanghai.
Ten years later, the 30-year-old "Dr. Fang Nu" has turned into a 40-year-old "thesis writer". What remains the same is that the "SCI Paper Shop" he opened on the Internet is still open, and the advertisements are also highlighted. "Ten years old shop" label.
This critical report was also posted on his Weibo by him back then, threatening reporters to be nosy, "I sell papers without breaking the law, and even protected by the law."
Why did the "SCI Paper Shop" survive for 10 years? Where did the SCI papers sold go?
Why did selling papers online become a Xiaoqiang who can't be beaten?
As an "old acquaintance" of the shop owner, the reporter spent half a year on another unannounced visit and found that the business of the "SCI Paper Shop" is still booming. So far, more than 100 SCI manuscripts have been sold and published in academic journals at home and abroad. The purchasers are basically teachers and students from universities. , The owner made millions of dollars in profit.
Buying and selling SCI papers becomes a "ten-year old shop"
"Friends who need physics, chemistry, and material manuscripts come to me-SCI papers are written and distributed, Chinese-English translation, Taobao trading, ten-year old shop." In early August, the reporter made an unannounced visit to the "paper writer" "The blog on a website provided, the first thing that catches the eye is a big head shot with glasses that is not very clear.
Compared with the advertisements of “Transfer, purchase, write, and distribute SCI papers on behalf of people in the Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Physics” posted 10 years ago, there is little change, but “Taobao Transaction” and “Ten Years The words "Old Store" are particularly dazzling, and a big picture of a suspected thesis writer has not changed for 10 years.
"Thesis writer" claimed that the content of SCI papers involved (but not limited to) the synthesis of organic ligands, the synthesis and characterization of complexes, the discussion of photophysical properties, the discussion of nano properties, and the discussion of quantitative calculations.
"The article can be used by people in the Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Physics."
"Can I write and distribute an SCI paper on materials?" On August 24, the reporter asked for an SCI paper as a graduate student in a university, and related inquiries were quickly responded to by the owner of the "paper writer".
He said that the price depends on academic journals and their impact factors. A few days later, a manuscript on the material will be in place with an impact factor of 3.2, and the price will be between 30,000 and 50,000 yuan.
The specific price depends on the workload and impact factor testing during revision.
“For example, a manuscript published in the first district has an impact factor of 6.3, and the price is 65,000 yuan. A manuscript published in the second district has an impact factor of 2.9, and the price is 35,000 yuan.”
It is reported that SCI (Science Citation Index, SCI) refers to the citation database created and published by the American Institute of Scientific Information in 1961.
SCI (Science Citation Index), EI (Engineering Index), and ISTP (Science and Technology Conference Proceedings Index) are the world's three most famous scientific and technological literature retrieval systems and are internationally recognized scientific evaluation systems, of which SCI is the most important.
The National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is divided into four areas according to the impact factors of various journals. The first area contains 5% of the top journals, which is a relatively high level.
The reporter found that compared to 10 years ago, the average unit price of "SCI Paper Shop" papers has risen from 20,000 yuan to more than 30,000 yuan.
In bargaining with reporters, the "paper writer" attributed the price increase to the difficulty of manuscript publication. He said that the current manuscript is strictly "abnormal", which has caused prices to soar.
"Thesis writer" divides the academic manuscripts sold into four types: A (pre-written manuscripts), B (customized manuscripts), C (translated manuscripts), and M (specially reserved manuscripts).
The reporter's statistics found that from 2010 to the present, 114 of the four types of manuscripts were sold, of which 109 were pre-written.
The peak of the number of papers sold was in 2016, and 33 SCI papers were sold a year.
2017, 2018, and 2019 showed a downward trend year by year, with 22 articles, 19 articles, and 8 articles respectively.
Three articles were sold in the first half of this year.
Based on the average unit price of 30,000 yuan, the "thesis writer" has made a profit of 3 million yuan in 10 years.
Regarding the current situation of business shrinking, the "paper writer" revealed that "now submissions will be tested for innovation."
He gave an example. At the beginning of this year, he compiled 6 data packets, corresponding to the three major series of physics, chemistry, and materials. It could have been written into a dozen papers, but now it is compressed into 6 papers.
"Now submissions will be tested for innovation, so you can't write in series."
Papers sold across three disciplines
On November 14, 80 days after the reporter's SCI paper order was issued, the "paper writer" replied to the reporter that a three-zone manuscript has passed the preliminary review with an impact factor of 3.3. The research content is the preparation of core-shell structured magnetic-luminescent nanomaterials , Studied its microstructure and luminescence performance.
He revealed that the manuscript has entered the second review and has given suggestions for revision.
“I’m submitting to a magazine owned by Elsevier. Elsevier now uses an improved algorithm to detect plagiarism in text and repeated use of images. If the repetition rate exceeds 10%, the manuscript will be rejected in the first round of review and will not be reviewed by experts.” The "paper writer" guarantees the reliable quality of the paper and requires the reporter to pay through his Taobao account. Then he will send the manuscript for review. After confirming that it is correct, the review process of the journal will be sent as a video.
"After waiting for the manuscript online (published online), I will notify you to review it, and finally implement Taobao's delivery operation." After some bargaining, the final paper price was set at 22,000 yuan, and the reporter quit the transaction on excuse.
In the "SCI Paper Shop", "Thesis Writer" posted an English SCI paper that was recently written and distributed with an impact factor of 2 to 5, the paper number is A-184-229, and the article keywords are "Organic fluorescent dyes, luminescence properties, laser properties, heavy metal ion sensing".
"The paper shop only published the information of the manuscript I wrote, and did not involve sensitive information such as sale or transfer." The reporter found that "paper writers" often used QQ space to comfort customers who wanted to buy papers.
During an unannounced visit by a reporter, the "thesis writer" said, "All the manuscripts in the thesis shop are written by myself. The advantage of this is that the confidentiality is very good. It can be said that no one except me is involved. This article also guarantees maximum safety in this way."
How does one person write scientific research papers in batches of different professional directions?
In the communication with reporters, "Thesis Writer" revealed his academic and scientific research experience——
It turned out that the gunman's research directions were different. When he was a postdoctoral fellow, the research directions crossed horizontally. He has studied the four research directions of materials, physics, chemistry, and organic electronics.
He claimed that during his PhD study, the number of papers he completed reached double digits, all of which were English SCI.
When he graduated from his doctorate 11 years ago, the "thesis writer" did a lot of experiments and accumulated some experimental data.
By chance, the "thesis writer" got the opportunity to return to his alma mater every year to do short-term research, continue to do experiments, and accumulate experimental data.
He said, what data is needed to make an article, how big is the length, and what experiments may need to be supplemented, without exception, he has made overall arrangements.
"Through so many years of data analysis, it can be said that as long as I see the data, I know how to write this paragraph." "Thesis writer" claimed in his blog post that he usually draws an outline first when writing a thesis. Take a few days to form a basic skeleton, and then take time to fill in the data analysis in the right place.
Write a little every day, and write a few hundred words each time.
The overall refinement of the manuscript is the final process. This step will be repeated at least twice, and a paper can be sold on the shelf.
Duplicate checking system makes paper water injection blocked
The A-type articles sold in the "SCI Paper Shop" are very expensive, which often attracts buyers' questions.
"In my case, the cost of the manuscript has the following aspects: the first is the cost of doing the experiment, the second is the operating cost, and the third is the test cost for supplementing data when revising the manuscript." "Thesis writer" is in the online shop He explained that there is no intermediary fee for his paper and the asking price is not high.
How to publish the sold manuscripts?
"Thesis writer" is introduced in the blog post: The manuscript must be selected from a suitable magazine before submission.
"So many years of study and work experience have really allowed me to accumulate a lot of contacts. If I'm not lucky, I can only rely on the quality of the manuscript to face the reviewers head-on."
Since 2018, major journals have begun setting up the online detection system iThenticate (a common duplication check system for English journals), and the manuscripts of "paper writers" have encountered obstacles.
The reporter's statistics found that in 2019, "thesis writers" wrote 20 papers and sent out 8 papers, and the annual manuscript volume dropped sharply by half.
"SCI Paper Shop" transactions are all conducted through Alipay.
"Thesis writer" said that before the manuscript is received, no money will be charged; however, some manuscripts need to be paid in advance, but the advance payment is in the hands of Alipay middlemen, and the buyer will not pay until the paper is signed.
The signature of the paper is entirely up to the buyer.
"If you want to reduce the risk, you can let me be a co-author, so there is no problem at all."
The reporter found in an unannounced visit that the buyers of the "SCI Paper Shop" were basically teachers and students from universities, coming from Shanghai, Shandong, Sichuan, Anhui and other places.
In an exchange with unannounced reporters, a buyer from a university in Sichuan was convinced of the ability of a "thesis writer".
The buyer said that the essays written on behalf of him are highly compatible with his profession.
Why "SCI Paper Shop" has become an unbeatable "Xiaoqiang"
On December 31, 2019, "Thesis Writer" published a year-end summary, saying, "More than 20 manuscripts were completed throughout the year, and 9 manuscripts were received (sent) (1 top, 2 first, 4 second) District, 1 article 3 district, 1 article 4 district), return to minor repair 1 article 3 district.” He said that 2018 was the first year that the paper business became difficult, and major magazines became stricter.
For 2020, he said "will do my best to do it well."
In the WeChat interaction with reporters, the "thesis writer" stated that what he did was not against the law or against academic ethics.
He even posted on his blog the report "Dr. Fang Nu sells 8 SCI papers a year" written by the reporter on October 20, 2010. He also wrote a statement not to accept interviews with reporters, declaring that "There is no right now. The sale of thesis legislation means that what I did is not illegal."
On January 19, 2011, the China Youth Daily conducted a follow-up report on the sale of SCI papers by Dr. Fang Slave, thinking that this was an absurd and true case in the paper trading industry chain.
The news was also posted on the blog by the "paper writer" and responded: "There is currently no relevant law on the sale of papers. According to the presumption of innocence, acts that are not prohibited by the law do not constitute a crime. Moreover, according to copyright According to the law, the author of the paper has the right to dispose of his paper, which means that I sell the paper without breaking the law, and even protected by the law."
"This is indeed a gray area that is not regulated by the law." Regarding whether the behavior of the "thesis writer" is illegal, Peng Litang, a professor at the Law School of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, said that such behavior violates professional ethics and should be disciplined in the industry and within the unit.
Hu Fen, a professor at the Law School of Wuhan University, believes that the papers are non-sale commodities that are forbidden to be sold, and it is obviously illegal to sell them publicly.
On the other hand, purchasing papers is academic fraud and should bear corresponding legal liabilities.
"Thesis writers" have also participated in the fraud and have to bear corresponding legal responsibilities.
Why can business papers enter Taobao openly?
Taobao Cloud customer service replied: You can sell, but it is not recommended to buy and sell. You can open a shop in accordance with the normal procedures.
On November 10, at the 2020 Science and Technology Ethics Symposium of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan, many academicians believed that the state and relevant departments should legislate to control serious academic misconduct.
Zhang Qifa, a professor at the School of Life Sciences and Technology of Huazhong Agricultural University and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who participated in the conference, believes that the responsibility and role of the legal person of the grassroots unit should be emphasized in academic governance; academic punishment must have a rigid system and should not be discussed individually.
"The papers that can be bought and sold are certainly not high-level, and most of them are junk papers." Professor Liu Xianjun, an evaluation expert of the Ministry of Education and deputy director of the Academic Committee of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, expressed shock at the existence of the "SCI Paper Shop", thinking that it would disrupt the academic palace. Should be regulated.
"For college teachers and students who buy papers to participate in academic fraud, once discovered, they will be disqualified for evaluation."
Chief reporter Yang Jiafeng