Egorov, S. (2022). Legal Regulation for Ensuring the Integrity of the Russian Scientific Certification System. Law and Politics, 12, 56–69. https://doi.org/10.7256/2454-0706.2022.12.38620
Legal Regulation for Ensuring the Integrity of the Russian Scientific Certification System
Egorov Sergey
ORCID: 0000-0001-8512-400X
Doctor of Laws (LLD)
Vice-Rector for Research, Moscow Tax Institute
Petrov Mikhail, Loginova Elena, Pakhomov Sergey.
(2024)
Development of the State Scientific Certification System in Russia within the Independent Academic Degree Award Principles: Tools, Outcomes, and Future Steps. Science Governance and Scientometrics
1
.
DOI: 10.33873/2686-6706.2024.19-1.10-65
DOI:
10.7256/2454-0706.2022.12.38620
EDN:
MZWGCU
Received:
15-08-2022
Published:
06-01-2023
Abstract: This article is devoted to the issue of preserving the integrity of the Russian state system of scientific certification in the context of the growing diversity of regulatory and legal acts, as well as practices for awarding academic degrees. The recent expansion of the autonomy of a number of scientific and educational organizations raises a number of doubts, primarily related to the ability to ensure equal rights and opportunities for applicants for academic degrees in different parts of the system. This article provides a comparative analysis of state acts and regulatory acts of organizations that carry out procedures for the independent awarding of academic degrees. In the course of this study, three subsystems were identified that operate according to comparable rules but provide different rights and opportunities. The first subsystem is dissertation councils under the leadership of the Higher Attestation Commission and Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science. There, a place is occupied by special dissertation councils, in which the applicant avoids the publication of articles and the text of the dissertation, as well as other publicity requirements. The second subsystem is formed by scientific and educational organizations found on a special list. Similar norms and requirements apply within the framework of their local regulations, but there are also noticeable differences. These include reducing the number of dissertation councils, including candidates of sciences in them, the possibility of defending a candidate's thesis in the form of a scientific report, etc. The third subsystem includes spiritual education organizations awarding theological degrees. The ambiguity of the attitude toward such degrees remains at the federal legislation level. Theological degrees are recognized along with other academic degrees during state licensing and accreditation procedures, but their holders are not guaranteed mandatory surcharges, apostille affixing, etc. The analysis made it possible to identify indicators that are important for checking the integrity of the system and determining the direction of its improvement.
Keywords:
academic degrees, scientific certification, dissertation council, state policy, higher education, dissertation, scientific report, theological degrees, Doctor of Philosophy, PhD
References
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The object of research in the presented manuscript is the system of scientific certification in the Russian Federation, and the subject is the current legal and regulatory acts. The research is of a review-theoretical nature with a general analytical and deductive methodology. Thus, the text of the study contains a detailed analysis of existing regulations governing scientific certification in the Russian Federation. The deductiveness of the research is determined by the fact that the author moves from general legal provisions to acts of specific organizations with subsequent analysis of the rights of participants in the process under study. All the stated research methods within the framework of the designated systematic approach, namely, methods of studying documents, tools for collecting, processing and interpreting data, the formal legal method, modeling and typing are actually reflected in the text of the manuscript. In conclusion, the author comes to the only conclusion that "in general, this system still maintains its own integrity" and provides a number of suggestions for its improvement. In contrast to a detailed theoretical analysis, the conclusion looks truncated, perhaps it should be expanded with a list of conclusions, identified contradictions and suggestions regarding them. There is no appeal to opponents as such, however, taking into account the methodology of the work, its absence cannot be a fundamental disadvantage. The advantages of the manuscript include the following. 1) High scientific and stylistic quality of the text. A clear and logical presentation of the material with the absence of low-content passages. 2) Clear structuring of the article by content components. 3) An excellent selection of bibliographies with real links to these sources. 4) A detailed explanation of the research methodology, indicating its concept and tools. The following comments can be made about the work. 1) With a very detailed analysis, the advantages and disadvantages of the current certification system are not explicitly highlighted and discussed in the text of the work. 2) So the work would benefit if these pros and cons, as well as specific possible gaps in certain acts, were reflected, for example, in a table or in a separate list. 3) The research would benefit if the author provided specific situational examples reflecting certain contradictions in the system that exist at the moment, and which can be resolved in one way or another, again indicating possible solutions. The absence of this material in the substantive part of the work, of course, "detaches" it from practice, making the text theoretical and shifts the tilt of the audience's interest from pedagogical to theoretical and legal. Its presence would clearly increase the problem. These remarks are of a recommendatory nature and do not negate the fact that the text is executed at a high theoretical and scientific level, meets the basic requirements for manuscripts of this kind and can be published in a peer-reviewed publication in the appropriate direction.
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