Paraguayan scientists warn President Peña about 'express doctorates'

A group of prominent Paraguayan scientists has formally alerted President Santiago Peña to a growing concern: the widespread offering of "express doctorates" of dubious quality within the nation's universities. In a letter addressed to the president, the scientists warned that these programs suffer from insufficient academic rigor, poor coursework, and unclear thesis processes, posing a significant threat to the integrity of higher education and the country's scientific advancement.

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The signatory scientists warn about the proliferation of very low-quality doctorates in the country and consider that this situation constitutes a matter of state, due to its implications for higher education, scientific research, and national development.

The researchers emphasized that a genuine doctorate is fundamentally a process of original research, not merely the accumulation of courses or literature reviews. They stressed that doctoral programs should involve supervised original research, evaluation by independent peers, and the production of verifiable knowledge. The scientists attached a report detailing the systemic risks associated with these low-quality doctorates, outlining their findings and proposing potential solutions.

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The doctorate does not consist of the accumulation of courses, seminars or bibliographic reviews; but it is a process of original research supervised by active researchers, evaluated by independent peers and oriented to produce verifiable knowledge.

These "express doctorates" undermine the core function of a doctoral degree, which is to certify advanced research competence. The scientists warned that when international standards, such as those defined by the European University Association and the National Science Foundation, are not met, including substantive student research, supervision by experienced academics, external thesis evaluation, and peer-reviewed publications, the value of doctoral credentials diminishes. This can lead to credential inflation, a loss of institutional trust, and international reputational damage for Paraguay.

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When these standards are not met, the doctoral title loses its function of certifying advanced research competence, generating cumulative effects such as credential inflation, loss of institutional trust, and international discredit.

Furthermore, the scientists highlighted the risk of institutional self-reproduction, where theses focus internally on the institution itself, supervised by academics with limited research output. Graduates then quickly assume supervisory roles without demonstrating significant research leadership. This creates a closed validation circuit rather than an open process for knowledge generation. The scientists urged President Peña to consider reforms within regulatory bodies like Cones and Aneaes to address these systemic issues and uphold the quality of doctoral education in Paraguay.

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The doctorate is transformed into a closed circuit of internal validation instead of an open process of knowledge generation.