Sacking of three professors raises doubts about academic integrity

The sacking of three academics over dubious research at the prestigious Zhejiang University has escalated concerns within the research community about the credibility of mainland academics.

State media reported on Sunday associate professor He Haibo and his superior, Wu Limao, had been fired for their roles in the fake research, which purported to show that traditional Chinese medicine could be as effective as western drugs in treating heart disease.

The dean of the university's pharmaceutical sciences college, Li Lianda, would also lose his job, China News Service reported yesterday, quoting university president Yang Wei. Mr Li was co-author of the discredited paper. The school had decided not to renew his contract because of his oversight failure, the president said.

At a public forum on misconduct by academics, Peking University president Zhou Qifeng rebuked some for failing to observe basic ethics while doing research.

'The irregularities concern sporadic cases, but without checks, the irregularities would get in the way of academic advancement and this could compromise the entire research community,' Professor Zhou told the forum on Sunday.

The sackings capped a highly publicised saga that started shortly after the Lunar New Year, when bloggers and contributors to message boards began accusing Mr He, one of Mr Li's postdoctoral students, of stealing data and submitting it to a leading international journal under his own name. In his confession, Mr He said the paper was submitted with Mr Li's name on it but without his approval.

The incident follows another well-publicised case centered on the integrity of mainland researchers.