She told local media that requiring specific numbers of published papers or demanding inclusion in a journal with a certain impact factor as a precondition for graduation damages collaborative research and “hinders the cultivation of innovative talents.”
Another proposal put forward by Li Yusheng, an adjunct Ph.D. supervisor at Nanjing Normal University, points out that this demand by universities “lacks legitimacy” and “could infringe Ph.D. candidates’ rights to obtain degrees and be assessed fairly.”
Zou Jianjun, a professor in the School of Chinese Language and Literature at Central China Normal University, told
Times Higher Education that the adoption of mandatory publication over the past two decades “was mainly driven by the benefits it offers for subject evaluation and university rankings rather than the commitment to guarantee the quality of Ph.D. education.”