Abstract：The doctoral publication system has become a controversial and concerned issue. This study introduces the concept of "involution" and tries to explain the phenomenon of "quantity growth without substantial innovation" in the operation of the doctoral publication system. Specifically, the goal of the doctoral publication system is to "improve the quality of cultivation", but there are many deviations in the implementation of the system, which are embodied in four aspects: the replacement of the goal of "publication for publication′s sake", the resource competition of "publish or perish", the path dependence of "interest connection enhances the legitimacy of the system" and the function locking of "the flourishing number of papers does not bring academic innovation". Through analyzing the formation mechanism of "involution", it is not difficult to find that the doctoral publication system, as a kind of evaluation systems, has dispelled academic authenticity by the "digital worship" of evaluation standards, weakened the cultivation responsibility by the "power transfer" of evaluation subjects, and generated the chaos of involution by "highly relevant" evaluation results. To transcend the dilemma of "involution" and promote the return of the doctoral publication system to academic authenticity, it is necessary to construct a multiple evaluation system, enhance the internal tension of the doctoral publication system, strengthen the guidance on scientific research publication, play the main responsibility of training units for doctoral students, weaken the color of "elimination" and control the quality of cultivation by means of the triage and withdrawal mechanism.
