Academia gets ethics body
The Ministry of Education has set up an academic ethics commission to tackle increasing fraud in universities and research bodies.
The commission, formed on Tuesday, comprises 71 members from the nation's leading institutions. It will draft regulations to punish scholars for academic fraud, encourage universities to establish ethics committees and monitor the academic community for deceptive research.
Yuan Zhenguo, of the ministry's social science department, said one of the commission's priorities was disciplinary action.
'Measures will include banning academics found guilty of academic infractions from promotion or nomination for awards,' Mr Yuan said.
The ministry said academic fraud was becoming a serious trend. In March, more than 100 professors from mainland universities called on their counterparts to avoid plagiarism, and 120 Chinese scientists in the US signed an open letter calling for procedures and organisations to investigate academic misconduct.
