Using a systemic thinking approach to study externalities of higher education policies: a critique of the paper-based faculty promotion regulations

In recent years, synergistic policies, regulations, and procedures have been developed in higher education that have resulted undesirable outcomes that have led the university to unethical behaviors in the research process. The irregular growth of universities and higher education institutions, changes in regulations of theses and dissertations, paper-based faculties promotion regulations are the drivers of these changes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the externalities and of this metamorphosis in higher education and the effect of these factors on the dynamic life cycle of research and its products, especially scientific papers. For this purpose, the consequences of these strategies were extracted by literature review. So, using the tools of cause-effect loops model in the form of 5 subsystems including:  dominance of poor quality research works, non-practical and similar research, increasing scientific journals and forming power networks around it to publish articles, spread of research misconduct and scientific violations, expanding the market for outsourcing research and ghostwriting and commercializing higher education and changing faculty members' views from a generous to an instrumental view to the students, integrated and final model also included 10 reinforcing loops and 3 balancing loops of the externalities of this change in policies and their interactions have been identified. Finally, with a holistic perspective, an interactive model of the potential externalities was developed.