Nanjing professor withdraws from fellowship race to investigate rival for academic fraud

A prominent physics professor at Nanjing University, Wang Mu, 51, announced on his blog on Monday his intention to withdraw from this year’s selection race for new members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), a title only given to leading scientists and academic authorities in China.

His decision has shocked many in Chinese academic circles. To many, the reason behind it is even more shocking. Wang has withdrawn from the race so he can investigate another candidate, his colleague, 49-year-old physics professor Wen Hai Hu, for alleged academic fraud.

On September 15, Wang informed the Division of Mathematics and Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that in May Wen had published a fraudulent research paper in Nature Communications, a journal focusing on advancements in the field of physical, biological and chemical science.

According to Wang, three co-authors of the published paper didn’t participate in any of the experiments or analysis mentioned in it, and they had never seen the article before it was published. Wang said that in July this year the editorial department of Nature Communications had received a request from the three co-authors to remove their names from the paper.

Wang told Chinese financial news outlet Caixin that as soon as he had withdrawn from the selection process, there would no longer be any conflict of interest, so he could better express his opinion.

“In this era when people are anxious to achieve quick success and get instant benefits, I think it is necessary to remind ourselves that no one should ever challenge the bottom line of the moral standard in scientific research,” wrote Wang in his blog. “I decided to withdraw from the selection so I can help raise awareness of moral standards in scientific research, and hope to receive a just conclusion regarding this alleged academic fraud scandal.”