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学术不端频发，中国直面挑战

英国《自然·医学》杂志2006年8月 Vol12, 8：867

　　在过去8个月时间，已经有至少6起涉嫌严重学术违规的事件在中国生物医药
研究领域被广为报道。对于仍然努力在全世界赢得信誉度的中国生命科学研究，
不断出现的对剽窃、篡改数据和伪造简历等行为的指控已经发出了一个严重的警
告。中国政府最终也无法对此等闲视之。

　　中国的大学经常不会彻底调查甚至承认学术造假事件。但是今年，情况有了
一点转机。三月份，清华大学开除了简历造假的医学教授刘辉，这位清华医学院
前任院长助理被发现把别人的论文归于自己名下。随后，在六月末，上海的同济
大学解聘了生命科学学院前院长杨杰，原因据称也是窃取其同事的数据。

　　政府部门也有所行动。中国教育部在5月份建立了一个学风委员会，科技部
则提出了诸如随机抽取基金评委的方式来对付申请科研经费时的裙带作风。科技
部在7月10日还宣布将建立一个独立的机构来监督研究项目的经费使用情况。

　　据不完全统计，在过去一年共有超过10起学术不端事件浮出水面，涉及的领
域既有信息技术，也包括生物医药研究。其中，生命科学领域的研究似乎特别容
易发生欺诈行为。新语丝网站的主持人方是民（方舟子）指出，这是因为这一领
域的实验结果更难精确地重复。方舟子从前曾是一位生物化学研究者，目前，他
主持一个名为新语丝的网站(www.xys.org)，列举了大量学术不端事件。在最近
发生的6起生命科学领域涉嫌造假的案例中，有5起最初来自新语丝刊登的举报和
揭发材料。

　　普林斯顿大学分子生物学教授施一公认为，学术不端行为泛滥的原因之一，
是中国在急于取得生命科学领域研究进展的同时，没有建立一套强有力的系统来
充分管理和监督科研经费并提防不端行为。获取科研经费的压力可能会导致一些
科学家伪造研究成果。“过去，这个领域的资助额和竞争程度都要少得多，” 
施一公说。

　　中国（中央政府部门）在过去五年（十五期间）对生命科学领域的研究资助
增长了400%，达到了130亿元（16亿美元）。中国庞大的病人资源和廉价的生物
技术科研人员一直以来对国际合作者很有吸引力，但是最近的事件已经让海外中
国科学家开始采取小心的态度。

　　“从前我们听说过一些传闻，但是现在随着这么多事情发生，我们在与国内
同行合作时要格外小心，”美国堪萨斯大学药学院的研究人员Lu Hong表示。

　　几位接受本刊采访的生命科学家表示，要恢复国外合作者的信心，政府需要
经常调查对各种不端行为的指控，并公开整肃那些被发现有过失的人。

　　普林斯顿大学的施一公补充说，从长远角度来看，中国必须发展出另外一些
衡量成果的指标，而不仅仅是在影响因子高的期刊上发表的论文数量。“当科研
经费和科研奖励被给予真正的科学创造，生命科学领域中的造假行为在很大程度
上就会得到避免。”

贾鹤鹏北京报道

NATURE MEDICINE VOLUME 12 | NUMBER 8 | AUGUST 2006 867
Frequent cases force China to face up to scientific fraud

NEWS
Frequent cases force China to face up to scientific fraud

Six high-profile cases of scientific misconduct over eight months: for 
China’s biomedical research, still struggling for global credibility, 
the frequent accusations of plagiarism, falsified data and fabricated 
resumes spell out a serious warning—one that the government is 
finally preparing to heed.

Chinese universities have traditionally failed to investigate or even 
acknowledge cases of misconduct. But in early March, Beijing-based 
Tsinghua University fired Hui Liu, a professor of medicine, after he 
was found to have claimed another researcher’s papers as his own on 
his resumé. Then, in late June, Tongji University in Shanghai 
dismissed Jie Yang, dean of the university’s school of life sciences, 
for allegedly stealing his colleagues’ data.

The Ministry of Education also in May set up a research ethics 
committee to discipline researchers, and the Ministry of Science and 
Technology has proposed measures such as the random selection of grant 
reviewers to combat nepotism. Most recently, Yong Shang, China’s vice 
minister of science and technology, announced on 10 July that the 
ministry plans to set up an independent agency to monitor the research 
projects it funds.

In total, more than 10 cases of misconduct have surfaced in the past 
year in fields ranging from information technology to biomedical 
research. But research in the life sciences may be particularly 
susceptible to fraud because it is often difficult to reproduce exactly, 
says Shimin Fang, a former biochemistry researcher. Fang now runs a 
website called New Threads (www.xys.org) that lists allegations of 
fraud and identified five of the six cases, including that of Hui Liu.

In the rush to succeed, China has not set up a robust system to 
adequately manage and audit grants and to safeguard against misconduct, 
says Yigong Shi, professor of molecular biology at Princeton University. 
The pressure to secure grants may have led some scientists to 
fabricate research, he says.“Previously, the funding and the level of 
competition in the field were much lower.”

China’s investment in life sciences has grown as much as 400% in the 
past five years to RMB13 billion (US$1.6 billion). China’s large pool 
of patients and cheap skilled biotech researchers have been highly 
attractive for collaborators outside China, but the recent incidents 
have struck a note of caution for Chinese scientists abroad.

“We have heard some rumors before, and with the cases, we would be 
particularly cautious when cooperating with our domestic counterparts,” 
says Hong Lu, a researcher at Kansas University Medical Center.

To restore their confidence, the government should routinely 
investigate allegations of misconduct and openly discipline those 
found to be guilty, researchers say.

In the long term, adds Princeton’s Shi, China must also develop other 
measures of success rather than rely exclusively on publications in 
journals with high impact factors. “When the funding and rewards are 
endowed to the true scientific excellence,” he says, “fraud in life 
science can be largely avoided.”

Hepeng Jia, Beijing

(XYS20060811)

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