据媒体报道，近日，清华大学公布了2020至2021学年度第9次校务会议修订的《攻读硕士学位研究生培养工作规定》。该规定确认，发表学术论文不再是申请硕士学位论文答辩或申请硕士学位的前置条件。

According to media reports, Tsinghua University recently announced the "Regulations on postgraduate training for master's degree" revised by the 9th academic conference of the 2020-2021 academic year. The regulation confirms that the publication of academic papers is no longer a prerequisite for applying for master's thesis defense or obtaining a master's degree.

清华大学的规定，无疑是根据本校硕士研究生培养现状作出的决定，但对其他大学以及整个硕士研究生相关状况的判断也不无启发。稍早几年，中国人民大学、北京师范大学、外交学院、中国农业大学、中央财经大学、北京语言大学、华中科技大学等7所大学已经取消了硕士研究生申请学位或毕业必须发表论文的硬性指标，率先打破了这个已不合时宜的规定。

The regulations of Tsinghua University are undoubtedly based on the status quo of postgraduate training in the university, but it is also enlightening to judge the relevant situation of other universities and the whole postgraduate. In the early years, seven universities, including Renmin University of China, Beijing Normal University, Foreign Affairs College, Agricultural University of China, Central University of Finance and economics, Peking University of Language and Technology, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology, have removed publishing papers from the prerequisites of graduation or obtaining a master's degree or must publish papers after graduation, breaking this inappropriate regulation first.
在普通高等教育愈益普及化的当下，硕士研究生的学习越来越具有学科专业高级训练的性质。在恢复高考的头一二十年里，高层次高等级人才稀缺的现实，抬升了人们对硕士研究生的期望。在那个时期，每个大学都把相当一部分甚至是最主要的资源用于硕士研究生的培养方面。并且，许多硕士研究生也确实不负众望，在“小材大用”的岗位上挑起了大梁，有的甚至成为一代栋梁。适应当时的学术界整体水平和情势，与教育资源分配及其所应产生的效果相当，规定硕士研究生申请学位或毕业的前置条件为发表论文，虽是一个不低的学术要求，似也不太为过。

With the popularization of general higher education, the learning of postgraduates is more and more characteristic of advanced training. In the first decade or two after the resumption of the college entrance examination, the scarcity of high-level talents has raised people's expectations for postgraduates. At that time, every university used a considerable part of even the most important resources for the cultivation of postgraduates. In addition, many graduate students do live up to the expectations of the public. They have become the backbone of the "small talents and great use" position, and some even become the backbone of a generation. To adapt to the overall level and situation of the academic circles at that time, it is equivalent to the allocation of educational resources and the effect it should produce. It seems not too much to stipulate that the prerequisite for postgraduates to apply for a degree or graduate is to publish a thesis.

当然，这个规定在目前看来已经过时无疑。最主要的在于，这种规定，既与当前硕士研究生培养的目标及其所占用的高等教育资源占比的现状不匹配、不适应，也与硕士研究生本人所处的学术环境和社会现实相脱离。以中国学术界的整体水平而言，硕士研究生所具有的普遍水平，已经不宜再占用仍属稀缺的学术刊物等资源。确立这样的衡量标准，并非降低了硕士研究生的培养水平，而恰是适应学术标准提升以及学术资源稀缺现状的结果。

This rule seems to be out of date at present. The most important thing is that this kind of regulation not only does not match and adapt to the current goal of postgraduate training and the proportion of higher education resources occupied, but also is divorced from the academic environment and social reality of postgraduate students themselves. In terms of the overall level of China's academic circles, the general level of postgraduates is no longer suitable to occupy the scarce academic journals and other resources. The establishment of such a standard does not reduce the training level of postgraduates, but is the result of the improvement of academic standards and the scarcity of academic resources.
更加现实的情况是，在非发表论文不能申请硕士学位或不能毕业的前置条件下，许多研究生不得不“剑走偏锋”，东拼西凑论文，继而再托关系找门路，甚至为发表文章贿赂那些控制学术资源的人，由此不仅败坏了学术环境，也迈错了步入社会的第一步。对硕士研究生申请学位或毕业所规定的发表论文的前置条件导致的种种不正常现象，许多人心知肚明。显然，废除这种以及其他不合时宜的规定，仅有7所大学还不够，加上清华大学也不够。

The more realistic situation is that under the precondition of not being able to obtain a master's degree or not being able to graduate, many graduate students have to "take the lead" to piece together their dissertations, and then find a way to rely on relationships, or even bribe those who control academic resources for publishing articles. As a result, they not only corrupt the academic environment, but also take the wrong first step into society. Many people are aware of the abnormal phenomena caused by the preconditions for postgraduates to obtain a degree or graduation. Obviously, it is not enough to abolish this and other untimely regulations. 
废除硕士研究生非发表论文不能申请硕士学位或不能毕业的前置条件，不会降低研究生的培养水平，也不会改变研究生的既定培养目标。这就像破除“唯论文”，实际上反而有助于提高论文水平。

Abolishing the precondition that postgraduates can not obtain a master's degree or graduate without publishing papers will not reduce the training level of postgraduates, nor change the established training objectives of postgraduates. It's like getting rid of "thesis only". In fact, it helps to improve the level of thesis.