部分臺灣學者習慣將已發表或發表中之論著,撰寫英文版本且不引用原作,再發表於國際期刊。由於處理時間較長,審查標準也往往較為嚴謹,英文版本之品質通常較佳。因為二篇作品未相互引用,致使讀者無法透過引文索引系統直接追蹤到另一篇著作。本研究透過分析特定案例被臺灣博碩士論文引用情形,闡述這類隱匿行為對學術發展造成的負面影響。本研究發現,較為依賴中文參考來源的碩士論文,引用英文版本的比率遠低於博士論文的比率。再就同時引用中英文版本的碩士論文中,大部分學生與該作者隸屬相同科系,故可證明學者有意的隱匿行為,導致資訊不對稱,已對學術發展造成負面影響。
Some Taiwanese scholars have frequently failed to cite the original Chinese versions of their papers when publishing them in English. Typically, the English copy is completed to a higher standard than the original. This is largely due to more time being spent processing, and to comply with stricter criteria for writing reviews. Due to authors' failure to cite versions in other language, readers cannot directly trace alternative versions in other languages using the bibliometric citation index system. This study illustrates the detrimental effects of such behavior by way of analyzing the citation status of two types of paper: Taiwanese doctoral and mater's dissertations. Master students, more inclined to depend on Chinese papers, are less likely to cite the English copies than doctoral students. Among those master students citing both language versions, i.e. the original Chinese and the English copy, most are students attending the same university department as the original authors being cited. This study verifies the negative effect of information asymmetry when academic authors fail to fully disclose previous works.