, The Washington Post; Putin wanted Russian science to top the world. Then a huge academic scandal blew up.
"Now
a group at the center of Putin’s aspirations, the Russian Academy of
Sciences, has dropped a bombshell into the plans. A commission set up by
the academy has led to the retraction of at least 869 Russian
scientific articles, mainly for plagiarism.
“This
is the largest retraction in Russian scientific history. Never before
have hundreds of papers been retracted,” said Andrei Zayakin, scientific
secretary of the RAS Commission for Countering the Falsification of
Scientific Research. “Before two years ago, there might have been single
cases, but not even dozens.”
What
went wrong? Many scientists blame Putin’s 2012 order, which provided
greater funding but also led to pressure on scientists to churn out
multiple papers a year regardless of quality, amid heavy teaching loads."
