Has CNKI’s price increase harmed the scientific research environment?
Has CNKI’s price increase harmed the scientific research environment? This will certainly harm the scientific research environment, there is no doubt about it. Academic evaluation usually relies on CNKI retrieval as an important basis, especially for the current rise of academic testing. CNKI database is the most important duplication checking and comparison database. The high price increase of testing has caused a major financial burden for graduates. A doctoral thesis of 100,000 words will cost hundreds of yuan to check once, and the database testing providers will benefit. Academic testing ultimately affects the scientific research environment.
Recently, it was reported on the Internet that the Chinese Academy of Sciences decided to suspend CNKI because it could not afford the tens of millions of renewal fees, which caused a lot of discussion.
On the 18th, the relevant person in charge of the Library Department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences confirmed that it was true that the renewal fee of nearly "tens of millions" and the suspension of CNKI access were reported online. As for whether access to CNKI will be restored in the future, the relevant person in charge said, "It's hard to say now, at least there should be no such plan this year." The email showed that the Documentation Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences issued a notice saying: "Tongfang CNKI Technology Co., Ltd. ( CNKI Database Publisher) suspended the use of the CNKI database by the Chinese Academy of Sciences: On April 8, the CNKI scientific journals and doctoral and master's thesis databases could not be downloaded. ”
Many universities have suspended use of the CNKI database due to excessive fees. CNKI, between 2012 and 2021, at least 6 universities have issued announcements stating that they will suspend the use of CNKI. The reason is that CNKI fees have increased too high. However, after a period of deactivation, many universities continued to cooperate with CNKI under pressure due to the uniqueness of the resource content of the CNKI database and the difficulty in achieving one-stop search for resource integration in other databases.
CNKI currently has a relatively leading market position in the same type of market, and the question of whether CNKI is suspected of being a monopoly has been discussed again.
In December 2021, "HowNet compensated a 90-year-old professor's papers for more than 700,000 yuan without permission" caused heated discussion. Previously, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) included more than 100 papers by Zhongnan University of Economics and Law professor Zhao Dexin without authorization. The professor did not receive royalties and had to pay for downloading them himself. The professor finally appealed to the law and won the case, receiving a total compensation of more than 700,000 yuan. CNKI stated that it "actively handles the issue of the continued dissemination of Professor Zhao Dexin's works on the CNKI platform." On April 18, 2022, Professor Zhao once again published: "After CNKI issued a statement to apologize to me, it never discussed with me about putting the paper on the shelves." Now, more than 4 months have passed since CNKI publicly apologized, and Professor Zhao has been removed More than 100 published papers are still not searchable on CNKI.
Relevant experts said: The "Anti-Monopoly Law" is a very professional law. Only anti-monopoly law enforcement agencies or judicial organs can determine whether CNKI constitutes a monopoly. When law enforcement or judicial authorities determine that a monopoly is a monopoly, there are three steps: 1. Define the relevant market; 2. Determine whether it has a dominant market position; 3. Whether there is abuse of a dominant market position. Experts also said: "It is legal to have a dominant market position, and only abuse of this position may violate the Anti-Monopoly Law." Whether CNKI is suspected of industry monopoly will take a long time to investigate.
CNKI is positioned as a national knowledge infrastructure and has a strong sense of fairness. Naturally, it cannot take economic profit as the highest criterion. In the face of negative public opinion on CNKI, we hope CNKI will seriously review its current operating strategies, respond to media concerns, and not do so for its own benefit. And let everyone discuss it. Should contribute to China’s academic undertakings.