True titles and false ones

A doctorate, carrying the title of “Dr.” before one’s name is a sign of scholarship, earned after years of diligent research and is conferred by a university. However, there is now a proliferation of doctorates, some bought from degree mills, or some dubious organization offering ‘research’ (including martial arts!) and honorary doctorates conferred by universities, the recipients of which seek to pass off the honorary doctorates as a true one.

The dubious category can be easily spotted: the uses of the title seldom mention the University conferring it. For example, it is simply “Ph.D”, or Ph.D Sri Lanka or Ph.D USA (as if Sri Lanka or USA are universities!). The public needs to be careful in recognizing such charlatans and giving them the respect which a true Ph.D holder deserves. I was recently misled and discovered the ruse after asking about the university and the title of the research, when a university which did not exist was mentioned! True Ph.D holders would always give the university within parenthesis, after the Ph.D and would be able to describe their research.

The worry is the use of Ph.D and the university name after the Ph.D by honorary doctorate holders without the use of the words “Honoris Causa” or at least “h.c” after the Ph.D and the university name.

It is hoped that those who use the Ph.D title which is a respected indicator of scholarship and contribution to knowledge, do so in a way to preserve that respect, by indicating the true nature of the doctorate along with the university which granted it.

By Romulus Silva, Pannipitiya.