Apparently, there has been some increase in Russian diploma mills as young men seek to avoid military conscription. This article is interesting in several ways. It's a glimpse into Russian society, something I know little about. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russian-federation/2015-11-09/russians-dodge-bullet
Diploma Mills in Russia? I don't buy it! :cool2: Although why would you not want to join the Russian Army? :smashfreakB: Where do I sign up? :tongue1:
As the article says, this was going on forever in one form or another. And this is not even the most millish part. Look up Dissernet project: a group of volunteer scientists analyzing prominent people's dissertations for plagiarism. It is epidemic. Usually, a prominent (or upward-bound) member of Russian political-security-industrial-criminal complex would desire a research degree as a prestige badge; they would contract out actual academic work to a service; the actual author then would proceed baking a thesis from pieces of other people' work, knowing that a pre-lubricated dissertation committee would not look too closely. Presumably some lesser lights even do the deed themselves, using similar technique (they still spend money on bribes and fast-track vanity press publications). The perps include the higher echelons of Russian establishment (eg., parliamentarians, ministers, deputy Speaker of the State Duma, chief child welfare ombudsman), and identified plagiarists suffer essentially zero consequences. Smaller fish is also guilty (i.e., the whole scandal started with the minor pro-Putin youth activist who got a job as a principal of the elite Math-heavy high school; his History PhD was obtained through fraud including claiming papers in non-existent "special issue" of a journal. He actually lost his degree.) In fact, Putin's own old economic dissertation contain a chapter lifted directly from an American textbook, unattributed; this would be a milder case of plagiarzim compared to shenanigans Dissernet folks unearth now. As for draft dodging, I personally welcome anything contributing to Russia's military and political decline. So good job, guys.
