Professor stripped of top award over plagiarism
By Zhang Xuanchen |
February 11, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A PROFESSOR and his team have been stripped of one of China's top science awards after being found to have plagiarized material and fabricated data.
In an unprecedented move, the Ministry of Science and Technology has taken back a second prize in the State Science and Technology Award presented in 2005 to a team led by Li Liansheng, a former professor at the School of Energy and Power in Xi'an Jiaotong University.
The ministry said Li and his team were guilty of "severe dishonest academic practice."
An investigation revealed that the project research paper on scroll compressor design and technology copied results from other studies and fabricated data on the device's economic benefits.
Li's team will also lose prize money of 100,000 yuan (US$15,186.5).
An investigation into Li's project was launched after six professors at Xi'an Jiaotong University in 2008 accused Li and Shu Pengcheng, an ex vice-principal of the university, of plagiarism and exaggerating research findings.
The professors said Li's scroll air-conditioner compressor had actually led to a loss of nearly 36 million yuan. Li said it was generating annual profits of 11 million yuan.
Last March, Li was removed from his post as a university professor for "academic cheating." In 2009, he was ousted as vice director of the National Engineering Research Centre for Fluid Machinery and Compressors and from the Academic Degree Committee. Xi'an Jiaotong University also removed him from the role of doctoral supervisor.
Li's downfall has highlighted a lack of integrity among some Chinese scholars.
Recent statistics quoted by Beijing-based China Youth Daily shows Chinese researchers last year published the largest number of scientific papers in the world.
But this does not seem motivated solely by a passion for knowledge, nor does it suggest a growth in academic ability. Indeed, Chinese research discoveries were among the least referenced in the world.
Many Chinese scholars say the number of articles published becomes a yardstick for promotion.
In an unprecedented move, the Ministry of Science and Technology has taken back a second prize in the State Science and Technology Award presented in 2005 to a team led by Li Liansheng, a former professor at the School of Energy and Power in Xi'an Jiaotong University.
The ministry said Li and his team were guilty of "severe dishonest academic practice."
An investigation revealed that the project research paper on scroll compressor design and technology copied results from other studies and fabricated data on the device's economic benefits.
Li's team will also lose prize money of 100,000 yuan (US$15,186.5).
An investigation into Li's project was launched after six professors at Xi'an Jiaotong University in 2008 accused Li and Shu Pengcheng, an ex vice-principal of the university, of plagiarism and exaggerating research findings.
The professors said Li's scroll air-conditioner compressor had actually led to a loss of nearly 36 million yuan. Li said it was generating annual profits of 11 million yuan.
Last March, Li was removed from his post as a university professor for "academic cheating." In 2009, he was ousted as vice director of the National Engineering Research Centre for Fluid Machinery and Compressors and from the Academic Degree Committee. Xi'an Jiaotong University also removed him from the role of doctoral supervisor.
Li's downfall has highlighted a lack of integrity among some Chinese scholars.
Recent statistics quoted by Beijing-based China Youth Daily shows Chinese researchers last year published the largest number of scientific papers in the world.
But this does not seem motivated solely by a passion for knowledge, nor does it suggest a growth in academic ability. Indeed, Chinese research discoveries were among the least referenced in the world.
Many Chinese scholars say the number of articles published becomes a yardstick for promotion.
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