Crackdown on Chinese research misconduct ‘not a game changer’

Academics have cast doubt on whether China’s latest crackdown on research misconduct will significantly change behaviour inside universities, despite warnings that institutions could face sanctions over mishandled cases.

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has set out new rules for investigating and handling violations in scientific and technological activities, placing renewed emphasis on institutional responsibility in cases of serious misconduct.

It warns that institutions could face sanctions for concealing wrongdoing by their researchers, with the results of investigations published to act as deterrents to others.

The latest directive forms part of a broader effort to tighten research governance as China seeks to bolster its global scientific standing.

However, Alicia Hennig, interim professor of business ethics at the Technical University of Dresden, told Times Higher Education that “this regulation does not present a significant shift towards institutional accountability since there have been dozens of approaches by the Chinese government in the past to regulate academic misconduct”.

“The Chinese government first approached this issue in 2006 and further strengthened standards from 2011 onwards,” said Hennig.

In 2024, authorities conducted a nationwide audit of retracted papers and established a misconduct database that can influence researchers’ eligibility for funding and honours.

Despite these measures, Hennig noted that “there are still issues with Chinese research paper mills, citation rings and high paper retraction rates”.

“So although this latest regulation supposedly presents a more streamlined, coherent approach, I doubt it will be a game changer because it doesn’t get to the root of the problem: wrong incentives for publishing, prevailing publication competition and publication pressure and a lack of appetite by institutions to punish deviant researchers since this would hurt their own reputation,” she said.

Asked whether tougher sanctions would alter university governance, Hennig said she did not expect “a substantial change”.

“With previous approaches the dilemma lay in universities lacking the self-interest to punish their researchers because it hurt the university’s reputation.

“With the new regulation there may be the dilemma that the Chinese government doesn’t want to diminish the reputation of its universities through rigorous punishment,” she said.

A professor at a Chinese university, who asked to remain anonymous,  also downplayed the significance of the move.

“For these academic integrity issues, it has long been not only about individual penalties but also about universities bearing their own institutional responsibilities to implement national policy,” she said.

She said universities already had “very clear policies and regulations” and “zero tolerance policies on misconduct”. “I don’t think this will change a lot,” she added.

On likely penalties, she said: “They will have a database and they will also impose penalties, especially on funding projects, admissions and technical awards,” she said. “Those will really affect institutions.”

The professor suggested that publicising investigations would also be tightly controlled. “They will control the scope, so they will be well considered and well balanced,” she said.

She added that the directive should be seen in the context of a broader shift. “China doesn’t only want to achieve the number one position by numbers but also by quality and by the trustworthiness of its research,” she said.

Ultimately, Hennig was sceptical that the new policy would significantly improve global perceptions.

“In light of the previous ineffectiveness of so many regulations in this field together with the fact that the root cause again doesn’t seem to be addressed, I doubt that the new regulation will significantly increase reputation and trust in the Chinese academic system and Chinese publications in the long run,” she said. “I remain rather pessimistic.”