After some high-profile scandals, academic institutions and the government are devising measures to root out academic corruption
Many in China regard scientific research as a sacred cause and scientists usually enjoy high standing. But a recent spate of academic scandals show that self-discipline alone is not enough to prevent academic corruption.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, one of the top universities in China, announced in May that Chen Jin, a professor at the university, was found to have falsely claimed more than 100 million yuan in government funds for a fabricated research program engaged in microchips. The university stripped Chen of his title and fired him. The ministries of science and technology and education terminated the research project Chen was in charge of and sought to recoup the related research funds.
This academic scandal is not unique. In March, Tsinghua University announced that Liu Hui, former assistant to the head of the School of Medicine, provided false information about his work experience and academic achievements on his personal Web page. Liu’s professorship was revoked.
During the past decade, the fields of science and technology have been highly rewarded as China saw the enormous value technology has brought to the country’s rapid economic development. Lu Yongxiang, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said too much temptation has tainted some researchers’ motives for being engaged in a scientific career.
According to statistics from the China Association for Science and Technology, the number of research personnel engaged in science and technology in China has topped 21 million, ranking first in the world.
But plagiarism and fake research have become rampant in China and are eroding people’s trust in academia, Ren Yuling, a member of the Councilors’ Office of the State Council, China’s cabinet, told a meeting of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the top advisory body, in March. He cited a survey of 180 Ph.D. degree holders in which 60 percent said they had paid to be published in academic journals; about the same percentage admitted they had copied others’ works.
Wang Yiqiu, former vice president of Peking University, said state funds are cancelled if researchers do not produce results in a short time. Therefore, he continued, some researchers feel forced to forge research results and plagiarize to produce the required number of theses. That is why theses from China are numerous but poor in quality.
According to statistics from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the number of theses published by Chinese scholars in 2004 ranked ninth in the world, but the country ranked 124th in the average number of times its research papers were quoted.
In May, 120 professors of life science and other scientific fields working in the United States and China sent a joint letter to such Chinese government agencies as the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, expressing their concerns about the honesty of scientific research in China and calling for actions to deal with the problem.
Breeding ground for corruption
Academic corruption refers to institutions making use of their resources to gain improper income or power, while misconduct, which is often individual, can take different forms such as plagiarizing material, distorting experimental data and tampering with original work.
The existing evaluation system, which emphasizes the quantity of papers rather than their quality, is considered the root cause of academic corruption and misconduct as China’s scholars have to publish a certain number of books or papers before they are promoted.
A colleague was demoted because he failed to publish two papers per year in key academic journals, said a professor at East China Normal University, who declined to be named.
Scientific research requires hard work while forgery can reap enormous benefits without major cost. That is why people take the risk.
Chen Xigu of the Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences pointed out that the problem of falsifying research results is prevalent around the world, and China is no exception. He said some people claim their students’ theses as their own, some simply put their byline on other people’s articles, and others change the headings of an article and claim it as their own works.
Chen believes the lack of supervision by academic authorities and flaws in the appraisal process for scholarly papers provide fertile soil for breeding academic corruption.
A professional code of conduct for scientists is being drafted, along with a system for archiving records, in an effort to safeguard academic ethics, announced Zhou Guangzhao, President of the China Asso-ciation for Science and Technology, at the organization’s national conference in May.
Established in 1958, the association, China’s largest science organization, has a total of 164 societies nationwide and more than 4 million members. After the disclosure of several academic scandals in recent months, it has moved to strengthen self-discipline in the science community.
The incoming code of conduct will apply to all members of the association, Zhou stressed.
“It will help scientists whose research is plagiarized to safeguard their interests,” Li Yiyi, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency.
The association has also outlined a system for keeping a check on academic fraud, according to Zhou.
Strengthening discipline
To curb violations of academic rights, the Ministry of Education announced recently that it planned to set up a national supervision committee, which will work out detailed criteria for academic research, specify punishments for academic corruption and misconduct and investigate such cases. The 25-member committee will consist of scholars from academic institutions.
The Ministry of Science and Technology also said in July that an independent watchdog will be created to scrutinize the use of research funds. The new squad will supervise the financial integrity and efficiency of state-level science programs.
“The watchdog may hire independent auditing companies to give an objective assessment on the use of money,” said Shang Yong, Vice Minister of Science and Technology.
Along with the new organization, updated regulations for research fund management are being drafted, and a third-party evaluation system for research performance will also be introduced.
“All these measures are expected to come into force this year,” said Shang. And they are only some of the reforms the government is initiating to improve its surveillance of scientific activities, as part of the efforts to turn China into an innovation-driven nation.
A new mechanism to standardize research work is to be phased in that will include two databases. One will be an experts’ database, from which different combinations of scientists will be selected for consulting panels to examine and appraise key projects. The other will evaluate all science projects to avoid duplication of research.
Before announcing these innovations, the Ministry of Science and Technology had indicated it would revamp the country’s research system after criticism about redundant projects and a waste of public resources.
Minister of Science and Technology Xu Guanhua had warned that scientists or research institutes that lose credibility would be warned and their misdeeds made public.
Xu stressed that scientific fraud and misconduct has done great harm to China’s scientific progress, and therefore assessment of scientific work should be “authoritative and strict.”