学术文章被引述的重要性

国家利益豁免或EB-1A杰出教授或研究人士的I-140移民申请,申请人多着重于本身的学术著作、学术奖项、帮学术期刊审核文章、在单位的关键角色、学术讨论会的文章发表、以及专业团体的会员要求,却时常忽略了其它专家在其学术著作中,对于申请人学术研究的探讨,或者是报章媒体对于申请人学术研究成果的报导。

诸不知, 移民局将申请人的学术研究文章被引述的次数及普遍性有越来越重视的趋势, 尤其是非申请人的老板或同事之独立专家的学术著作中, 对于申请人研究项目的评估与推崇, 对移民局来说, 是决定批准与否的关键。因为申请人现在及以前的老板或同事, 不论学术地位多么隆崇, 对于申请人学术研究的评价总是有先入为主、回护门生之嫌, 在移民局眼中并不是十分客观, 如果有其它与申请人并无直接连系的专家, 对于申请人的研究成就也赞誉有加, 并且大量援引, 假设有二三十篇, 则移民局对申请人的学术研究之影响力毫无置疑之处, 辅以申请人其它独特研究的成绩, 移民申请大致八九不离十。

举例而言, 移民局视学术著作发表是科学研究必须具备的条件, 因为发表文章与申请人的学术研究之影响力并不具备必然关系, 移民局指出, 发表文章并不能强迫他人审阅或吸取申请人的研究之影响。”Publication, by itself, is not a strong indication of impact in one’s field, because the act of publishing an article does not compel others to read it or absorb its influence.”

移民局甚至认为, 偶而帮学术期刊审核文章都只是例行公事。“Peer review of manuscripts is a routine element of the process by which articles are selected for publication in scholarly journals or presentations at a scientific conference. Occasional participation in peer review of this kind does not adequately distinguish the petitioner from other researchers.” 当然, 如果帮多家学术期刊审核文章, 则另当别论。 

另外, 在取得学位之前所获得的奖项, 因为只跟其它研究生或博士后研究一起竞赛, 而无法就此奖项与其它有经验的专家做出有意义的比较, 移民局并非完全不考虑, 但是并不具备决定性之关键。“While the petitioner’s graduate student award may distinguish the petitioner from other students seeking to further their education a particular university, it offers no meaningful comparison between the petitioner and experienced professionals in research field who have long since completed their graduate studies.”

相形之下, 移民局下列的论述大家可以看出来独立专家的对于申请人的评估是如何的重要。 Numerous independent citations would provide firm evidence that other researchers have been influenced by the petitioner’s work. If there are few or no citations of an alien’s work, suggesting that that work has gone largely unnoticed by the larger research community, then it is reasonable to question how widely that alien’s work is viewed as being noteworthy. It is also reasonable to question how much impact – and national benefit – a researcher’s work would have.” 至于独立专家的评论要几篇才算足够, 恐怕还是要看个别移民移民官的主观判断。

同时, 独立专家评论的重要性, 也可以从移民局下列的观点中得到印证。“We note that all of the witnesses have collaborated with petitioner on various projects in the past. This fact indicates that while the petitioner’s work is valued by his professional contacts, other scientists throughout the field are largely unaware of his research and do not attribute the same level of importance to his work.”

最后, 建议大家在从事学术研究之余, 应多广泛接触他校, 业界, 及政府部门的专家学者, 不仅增广见闻, 学术交流, 那天说不定会在你的移民申请上有意外的帮助。
 
赵伟宏律师事务所专长于特殊人士、杰出教授学者、国家利益豁免、PERM劳工证、百万投资移民、与非移民工作签证,本文系为一般法律原则及知识的介绍, 并不能做为取代针对个案之法律咨询, 您如有任何法律疑问, 请向您的律师咨询, 或请电邮至whchao@chaolaw.com

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