China launches largest-ever academic misconduct crackdown after ‘Student Geng’ scrutiny
Four Chinese academics who lost posts at leading universities after a high-profile blogger flagged their research for misconduct have come under official investigation by China’s leading funder of basic research. The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) published details on August 26 of 31 new misconduct cases at universities and hospitals across China, involving more than 40…
China has launched its largest academic misconduct crackdown to date following the scrutiny of a high-profile blogger, "Student Geng". The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) disclosed 31 new cases of misconduct across universities and hospitals, involving over 40 researchers. Among the accused were four prominent professors who were previously awarded the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars.
These academics had served as deans or associate deans of their respective schools before their funding and titles were revoked. The NSFC's move is widely regarded as a career-ending sanction in China's research community. The foundation's investigation was prompted by Student Geng's revelations on social media, which triggered the largest-ever probe into academic misconduct.
President Xi Jinping had previously called for stricter standards and concrete measures to combat academic misconduct and foster a clean research ecosystem. Since 2022, the NSFC has periodically published notices detailing its handling of research misconduct and funding violations.
Written by urgent.news from Reuters Business via SCMP's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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