COMMENT | The recent controversy surrounding an article written by two academics Rozita Che Rodi and Hashim Musa from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) has put the crucial issue of academic quality and integrity in our country under scrutiny.

Rozita and Hashim, both from UPM’s Malay Language Department, had jointly written the article titled “The Jongs and The Galleys: Traditional Ships of The Past Malay Maritime Civilisation” which was published on Nov 19, 2023, in the International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences (IJARBSS), Vol 13, Issue 11, 2023.

Like most publications of its kind, it may well have passed unnoticed by the wider public, if not for Serge Jardin, a French writer of history.

In a Facebook post on Jan 20, Jardin alleged that an image used in the article by the UPM academics to represent a model of Malay jongs is actually a hua-p'i-ku or a Foochow pole junk from China. The Foochow pole junk is a cargo-carrying junk with a capacity of 200-400 tonnes, and capable of long sea voyages.

Jardin further alleged that the model in question is not displayed in the Bahari Museum in Jakarta, Indonesia as stated by the authors in their article, but rather, is in the Royal Museums Greenwich, London (ID: AAE0200).

At the same time, Jardin went on to question whether the journal in which the article was published was credible and peer-reviewed.

Jardin’s comments are very serious and disturbing. They go to the heart of...