Chinese universities stress zero tolerance for academic misconduct

Tianjin/Guangzhou - Two Chinese universities have reiterated their zero-tolerance policy towards academic misconduct following sanctions imposed on several staff members.

In a public notice, Nankai University in Tianjin stated it had terminated the contract of a postdoctoral researcher after irregularities were found in a scientific paper they authored.

One corresponding author was removed from their position as dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences, while the other received a warning.

Nankai University said it would use the case as a lesson to comprehensively strengthen research integrity education and build a clean, ethical research environment.

Meanwhile, Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong Province has dismissed two lecturers from their deputy leadership roles after issues were found with images and data in their academic work.

Other related parties also faced penalties ranging from demotion to warnings and reprimands.

Sun Yat-sen University is committed to reinforcing research integrity training, improving mechanisms for managing research data, experimental records, image usage, and manuscript submissions, as well as enhancing regular monitoring and verification systems.