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Linda Lew

A university in central China has revoked a business graduate’s master’s degree and removed a professor from his teaching position after allegations of plagiarism proved to be true.
“We will reflect deeply and strengthen management. We continue to maintain zero-tolerance against academic misconduct,” Hunan University said on Tuesday.
According to a statement by the university, business graduate Liu Mengjie has had her master’s degree revoked, and her supervisor Hong Yuan has been removed from his teaching position.
The decision follows claims by an anonymous PhD student on social media site Weibo that Liu’s 2018 master’s thesis had plagiarised her grant application submitted to the National Natural Science Foundation in 2017, as previously reported by the South China Morning Post. 
China to crack down on fraud in scandal-hit scientific research
An investigation by the university found that Hong, who was part of the team which assessed the applications, failed to destroy confidential materials as stipulated by the funding body.
Liu, who studied at the School of Economics and Trade, then accessed and copied from the dissertation, according to the university.
The National Natural Science Foundation requires grant assessors to respect the intellectual property rights of applicants and to promptly return or destroy application materials once reviews have been completed.
The accuser alleged that Liu’s thesis had 15,626 characters in common with her dissertation, potentially as much as half of the work. Master’s theses in China are usually between 30,000 and 50,000 characters in length.
The anonymous doctoral candidate’s dissertation passed her university’s plagiarism check and has progressed to the next stage of the review process, according to her social media post.
The accuser did not respond to requests for an interview. Calls to Hong Yuan and Hunan University were not returned.
Plagiarism costs Chinese film star Zhai Tianlin his PhD
Many users on Weibo welcomed the outcome of the investigation but worried that academic misconduct was only taken seriously when it received public attention.
“The voice of a single individual and negotiation were completely useless. The only reliable way to expose the truth is through public pressure and media coverage,” a Beijing commenter wrote.
“Even though this doctoral dissertation case has ended it has brought a large impact.”
Another high profile case of academic misconduct involved actor Zhai Tianlin, who graduated with a doctoral degree from the Beijing Film Academy in 2018.
Social media users discovered he had plagiarised some of his academic work and the film star has since seen his degree rescinded.
The scandal called into question the integrity of top Chinese schools, including the Beijing Film Academy and Peking University, which had bestowed academic honours on Zhai.


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Chinese academic stripped of degree and professor removed in plagiarism scandal

Hunan University in central China has revoked a business graduate's master's degree and removed a professor from his teaching position after an investigation into plagiarism allegations. Photo: Baidu.

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Referee Fu Ming is in hot water. Photo: Twitter

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Yu Yanru, left, during the court hearing. Photo: The Beijing News 

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China

People & Culture

Hunan University investigation confirms anonymous online claims
Pledges to maintain zero tolerance for misconduct


Hunan University investigation confirms anonymous online claims, pledges to maintain zero tolerance for misconduct.


China education

Chinese academic stripped of degree and professor removed in plagiarism scandal

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Hunan University investigation confirms anonymous online claims Pledges to maintain zero tolerance for misconduct

Hunan University investigation confirms anonymous online claims

Pledges to maintain zero tolerance for misconduct