方舟子的Blog

学术造假成灾
中国高等教育所特有的、一个具有讽刺意味的问题是：靠施加压力来提高学术水
平。

美国《高等教育纪事报》2006年5月19日
Paul Mooney报道
（Yush译）

北京

　　方是民是一位分子生物学者、自由撰稿人、兼自主学术打假人士。去年，他
收到了一份清华大学医学院新任院长助理刘辉网上简历有假的匿名线索，随后他
仔细读了一下那份简历，发现简历中列出的一篇HIV分子生物学的研究论文与刘
辉的专业（外科学）无关，这引起了他的怀疑。方先生稍作调查后发现，那篇论
文实际上是美国一位与新任院长助理刘辉同姓、名字缩写相同的华人科学家写的。

　　方先生把他的这个发现，连同对刘先生工作经历的怀疑，公布到他的致力于
揭露中国学术腐败的广受欢迎的新语丝网站上。数月后，清华大学悄悄开除了刘
先生。

　　此事件是一系列引人注目的、令中国高校困窘的学术腐败案例中的最新一例。
专家们说，学术腐败现象正损害高等教育的质量、威胁着本已经状况不佳的高校
体制所迫切需要的改革。

　　在中国，欺诈行为由来已久。对政府设法使中国高教体制现代化所采取的方
式持批评态度的人士说，政府的这些努力只会使欺诈问题恶化。

　　三月份，这个问题的严重性更为突显。其时，100余名顶尖学者签署了一封
公开信，力促政府与学术腐败作斗争。中国新闻媒体广泛报道了他们的呼吁。同
月，著名杂志《中国新闻周刊》（与《美国新闻周刊》无关）发表长达12页的专
题报道《高校的非典型腐败》，文中描述了数十起案例，包括学术剽窃、网站出
售论文手稿、学者付费发表标准低下的论文。

　　多年来，政府官员和高校管理人员相对来说忽略了学术造假问题。但目前，
有迹象表明，他们已经准备好来处理这个问题。

　　学者公开信发表前的几星期，国务院（中国的内阁）高级官员任玉岭向一组
知名政协委员讲述了最近的一项政府调查。接受调查的180位博士学位获得者当
中， 60%的人说他们曾经花钱在学术刊物上发表论文，相近比例的人承认曾经抄
过其他学者的成果。任先生对政协委员们说，普遍的学术腐败损害着人们对学术
界的信任。

　　同样在三月份，教育部宣布成立一个委员会来监督学术腐败、制定对违犯者
进行惩罚的规则。随后，科技部说，它将建立一个数据库长久记录违规行为。

　　揭露学术腐败

　　在政府对学术造假的监管不到位的情况下，网络监督者们填补了这个空白。
学术批评网是最早从事揭露打击学术腐败的中文网站之一，网站上公布的全是中
国学者对欺诈猖獗会破坏国家学术和科学研究的发展的忧虑。其他很多学者，包
括研究生，已将监督学术造假当成业余爱好。

　　这些人当中，以方舟子为笔名的方先生是更为著名的监督人之一。他说，高
校对已经揭露出来的人经常办事拖沓或者不采取措施。这位受训于密歇根州立大
学的生物学者说，他的网站天天发表有关学术不端的报道，大部分由重要学者提
供。他声称，过去四年，他已揭露出将近500起“学术不端”案例，但其中绝大
多数都被高校和政府忽视。他的网站http://www.xys.org在中国国内被政府屏蔽，
但通过镜像可以访问。

　　方先生称，清华大学开除刘辉是个“例外”。他说，清华内部消息来源告诉
他，院长助理学术造假曝光后，管理层曾经不愿意采取措施，只是在教师们施加
压力后才动作。刘先生被开除是方先生在其网站公布指控后的4个月。方先生说，
与之成对比的是，清华生物系的一位副教授在其简历中列出了7篇不存在的论文，
但并没有受到惩罚，却随后被提拔为正教授。

　　方先生说：“即使事件被曝光，学校也通常会试图掩盖，特别是当被指控者
是个大人物时，以保护学校的名声和利益。中国科学院院士是很有权力的。他们
为所在高校带来大量资金，因此保护他们符合学校的利益。”方先生说，他的网
站已经揭露过约20名院士的造假或不端行为。他说：“他们一个也没有被正式调
查或惩处过。”

　　政府终于认识到需要采取一些措施，而新闻媒体也比以前更愿意报导这些事
件，方先生对此感到高兴。但他仍然对成功没有信心。方先生表示，学术腐败既
是一个社会问题，也是一个政治问题，这意味着，为根除这个问题，中国必须采
取根本改革。他说，民主的政府、独立的科学和教育制度，以及出版自由都是树
立诚实的学术风气所必需的。

　　作弊的历史

　　跟很多其他国家一样，中国学术方面的作弊有很长的历史。清朝
（1644-1911）期间需经严格的科举考试才能获得令人向往的文职官位，为此，
参加考试的学者花招百出，包括偷带指甲大小的袖珍书本和作弊纸张。在北京国
子监遗址曾展出过某作弊者写满了汉字的汗衫。

　　1964年，毛泽东主席在一次批评教育制度死板、只认考试的谈话中实际上认
可了作弊行为。他宣称：“考试可以交头接耳，甚至冒名顶替。冒名顶替时也不
过是照人家的抄一遍，我不会，你写了，我抄一遍，也可以有些心得。”{出自
毛泽东1964年春节谈话纪要}

　　最近几年，中国学生已采取雇佣“枪手”的手段参加考试。枪手可被雇来参
加中国几乎所有的考试，包括托福、雅思和GRE考试。某已关闭的网站提供三种
选择：雇一个枪手2000元（约250美元）；考前给答案4000元；考试期间用无线
装置（被称作进口“卫星接收机”，不比指甲大）提供答案1200元。

　　传统上，中国学校不教学生如何避免剽窃。高中生要花大量时间死记硬背，
却不用写需进行调查研究的学业论文。而一旦进入大学，他们也很少得到甚至得
不到撰写研究论文的训练。

　　有的教授甚至鼓励学生从事某种有益无害的剽窃。北京应用技术大学一位刚
毕业的学生，其大学毕业论文有逐字逐句的抄袭，他说：“老师告诉我们要抄，
她说我们不大懂得怎样表达自己的想法。”

　　很多学者担心，政府近年来推动建立十余所世界一流大学的举动正导致学术
造假流行。在中国，研究生和教授都被要求每年在所谓“核心杂志”上发表数篇
论文。政府改革批评家们注意到，大学教师工资、晋升和福利，与在杂志上的论
文发表数量、而不是论文实际内容挂钩。这个现实导致匆忙的、不干净的研究。
有些学者每年发表多至十余篇论文。

　　《中国新闻周刊》关于学术腐败的文章注意到，对发表论文的压力的持续增
加，已经孕育出学术黑市，在这个黑市上，教授交钱在假冒杂志上发表论文。据
《中国新闻周刊》计算，中国所承认的杂志每年只能登载30万篇文章，而预计今
年中国学术界要产生约53万篇。

　　在某份报纸的意见板块，有位学者写道，这些不切实际的期望令人回想起中
国1950年代末的大跃进，当时毛主席号召工业生产要大增长。这项努力，其结果
不只是劣质产品，还造成了灾难。

　　上海华东师范大学高等教育研究所所长唐安国说：“你不能用参加运动的方
式增加论文数量，以使某人能保住他的职位。你如果这么做，给学者们造成的压
力就太大了。”

　　唐先生表示：“压力有时候能让你干得更好。但如果压力太大，却能把你压
碎。”

　　中国近来对学术欺诈行为的指控

　　杨杰，同济大学生命科学与技术学院院长。4月份因在简历中伪造部分资料
被解除院长职位，仍保留教授头衔。

　　刘辉，清华大学医学院院长助理。3月份因被发现把别人的学术论文当成自
己的，以及在简历中就其在纽约大学医疗中心的工作经历撒谎而被开除。

　　沈履伟，天津外国语学院中文副教授。1月份因在书中剽窃十篇文章被开除。

　　胡兴荣，汕头大学新闻学教授。2005年因被发现在其发表于香港某杂志上的
文章中剽窃而辞职。

　　周叶中，武汉大学法学教授。2005年被指控抄袭学者王天成的著作却未指出
归属。王先生对其提起诉讼，现悬而未决。武汉大学仍未采取任何措施。

　　丘小庆，四川大学生物医学教授。2005年在一反学术腐败的网站上被指控其
在2003年11月的《自然－生物技术》杂志上发表假造的研究成果。四川大学正在
调查。

　　黄宗英，北京大学英语教授。2004年因剽窃某英国学者关于T.S. Eliot的一
本书的三分之二而被开除。

　　王铭铭，北京大学人类学教授。2004年，一博士研究生指控他剽窃William A.
Haviland的著作《文化人类学》的几部分。北京大学随后解除了他大部分学术职
位。

Chronicle of Higher Education, From the issue dated May 19, 2006

Plagued by Plagiarism

An endemic problem in Chinese higher education is, ironically, fueled
by pressure to raise standards

By PAUL MOONEY

Beijing

Fang Shi-min, a molecular biologist, freelance writer, and
self-appointed plagiarism buster, was poring over the online
curriculum vitae of the new assistant dean of Tsinghua University’s
medical school last year after receiving an anonymous tip that the
document included false information. He became suspicious when he
noticed that one of the research papers it listed was about the
molecular biology of HIV — a subject not related to the dean’s
specialty, which was surgery. Mr. Fang did a bit of research and
discovered that the paper had actually been written by a Chinese
scientist in the United States with the same family name and first
initial as Liu Hui, the new assistant dean.

Mr. Fang posted his discovery — and his doubts about Mr. Liu’s work
experience — on his popular Web site, New Threads, which is dedicated
to exposing academic corruption in China. Several months later, the
university quietly dismissed Mr. Liu.

The incident is the latest in a series of high-profile cases of
academic corruption that have embarrassed universities around China —
a trend that experts say is hurting the quality of higher education
and threatening much-needed reforms of the nation’s ailing university
system.

Cheating is not new to China, but critics of the way the government is
trying to modernize the country’s higher-education system say these
efforts are only exacerbating the problem.

The gravity of the issue was highlighted in March, when more than 100
top scholars signed an open letter urging the government to fight
academic corruption. Their plea was widely reported in the Chinese
news media. That same month, China Newsweek,a prominent magazine (not
related to the American newsweekly), ran a 12-page cover story, “The
Abnormal Corruption of Higher Education,” in which it described dozens
of cases of plagiarism, Web sites advertising manuscripts for sale,
and scholars paying journals to publish substandard papers.

Now, after years of relative neglect, government officials and
university administrators show signs that they are ready to deal with
the problem.

A few weeks before the scholars released their open letter, Ren Yuling,
a senior official of the State Council, China’s cabinet, described to
a group of prominent political delegates a recent government survey of
180 Ph.D. holders, in which 60 percent said they had paid to have
their work published in academic journals. A similar percentage
admitted having copied the work of other scholars. Mr. Ren told the
group that endemic academic corruption was eroding public trust in
academe.

Also in March, the Ministry of Education announced that it was
establishing a committee to monitor academic corruption and to set up
guidelines for the punishment of offenders. Soon after that, the
Ministry of Science and Technology said it would create a database to
keep a permanent record of violations.

Exposing Corruption

In the absence of government monitoring of plagiarism, online
watchdogs have filled the void. Academic Criticism, one of the first
Chinese-language Web sites dedicated to exposing and fighting
corruption, is filled with postings by Chinese scholars concerned that
rampant cheating undermines the development of academic and scientific
research in their country. Many other scholars, including graduate
students, have turned plagiarism-spotting into a hobby.

Mr. Fang, who uses the pen name Fang Zhouzi, is one of the
better-known spotters among them. He says universities often drag
their feet or take no action until someone has been exposed. The
biologist, who was trained at Michigan State University, says his Web
site carries daily reports of scientific misconduct, many of which are
provided by leading scholars. He asserts that he has uncovered close
to 500 cases of “scientific misconduct” over the past four years, but
that most of them have been ignored by both the universities and the
government. His Web site, http://www.xys.org, is blocked within China
by the government, but mirror sites can be accessed there.

Liu Hui’s dismissal from Tsinghua was “an exception,” declares Mr. Fang,
who says sources inside the university told him that administrators
had been reluctant to take action after the assistant dean’s
plagiarism became known and did so only after colleagues had put
pressure on them. Mr. Liu was fired four months after Mr. Fang first
publicized the accusations on his Web site. By contrast, Mr. Fang says,
an associate professor in Tsinghua’s biology department listed seven
nonexistent papers on his vita. He was not punished, says Mr. Fang,
and was later promoted to full professor.

“Even when a case is exposed, the university will usually try to cover
it up — particularly when the accused is a big shot — to protect the
fame and gain of the university,” says Mr. Fang. “Members of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences are very powerful. They can bring a lot of
funding for their universities, and therefore it’s in the university’s
interest to protect them.” Mr. Fang says his Web site has exposed
about 20 members of the academy for plagiarism or misconduct. “None of
them have been officially investigated or punished,” he says.

He is pleased that the government has finally acknowledged that
something needs to be done, and that the news media are more willing
than before to report such cases. But he is not confident of success.
Academic corruption is both a social and political problem, Mr. Fang
notes, which means that China must undertake radical reforms in order
to eliminate it. A democratic government, independent scientific and
educational institutions, and a free press are all necessary, he says,
to foster a climate of intellectual honesty.

History of Cheating

Scholarship in China, like that in many other countries, has a long
history of cheating. During the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) scholars
taking the rigorous imperial exam, to win coveted positions in the
civil service, resorted to all sorts of tricks, including smuggling in
miniature books and cheat sheets the size of a fingernail. At
Beijing’s old Imperial Academy, an exhibit on cheating once displayed
the undershirt of one cheater covered in Chinese characters.

In 1964, Chairman Mao Zedong actually endorsed cheating during a
speech in which he criticized the staid education system and its
emphasis on exams. “At examinations whispering into each other’s ears
and taking other people’s places ought to be allowed. If your answer
is good and I copy it, then mine should be counted as good,” he
declared.

In recent years, Chinese students have resorted to the use of qiangshou,
or “hired guns,” to take many exams. Their services can be retained
for just about any test in China, including the Test of English as a
Foreign Language, the International English Language Testing System,
and the Graduate Record Examination. One now-defunct Web site offered
three options: a hired gun for 2,000 yuan (currently about $250),
answers in advance for 4,000 yuan, or answers provided during the test
for 1,200 yuan via a wireless device described as an imported
“satellite receiver” no bigger than a thumbnail.

Chinese schools have not traditionally taught students to avoid
plagiarism. High-school students, who spend much of their time
memorizing, are not required to produce papers that require research.
And once in college, they get little or no training in how to write a
research paper.

Some professors even encourage students to engage in a sort of benign
form of plagiarism. “Our teacher told us to copy,” says a recent
graduate of the Beijing University of Applied Technology, whose senior
thesis contained some word-for-word plagiarism. “She said we don’t
know enough to express our own ideas.”

Many academics worry that the government’s recent push to create
dozens of world-class universities is fueling a plagiarism epidemic.
In China both graduate students and professors are required to publish
several papers each year in what are known as “key journals.” Critics
of the government’s reforms note that decisions about faculty members’
salaries, promotions, and benefits are tied to publication in these
journals rather than to the papers’ actual content, a reality that
leads to fast and dirty research. Some academics publish as many as a
dozen papers a year.

In its article on academic corruption, China Newsweek noted that
increasing pressure to publish has spawned an academic black market,
in which professors pay to have their papers published in counterfeit
journals. According to the magazine’s calculations, China’s recognized
journals are capable of publishing 300,000 articles annually, while
this year the country’s academics are expected to produce some 530,000
papers.

In a newspaper opinion piece, one academic wrote that the unrealistic
expectations were reminiscent of China’s Great Leap Forward of the
late 1950s, when Chairman Mao called for a sharp rise in industrial
production. The effort, which instead resulted in shoddy output, was a
disaster.

“You can’t have a campaign to increase the number of papers so a
person can keep his position,” says Tang Anguo, head of the Institute
of Higher Education at East China Normal University, in Shanghai. “If
you do this, the pressure on scholars will be too strong.”

“Pressure can sometimes make you a better person,” notes Mr. Tang.
“But if there’s too much, it can also break you.”

RECENT ALLEGATIONS OF ACADEMIC FRAUD IN CHINA

Yang Jie, dean, School of Life Science and Technology, Tongji
University. Demoted in April as director of the school for falsifying
details on his résumé, but kept on as a professor.

Liu Hui, assistant dean of the medical school, Tsinghua University.
Was fired in March after it was discovered that he had taken credit
for an academic paper he had not written and had lied on his résumé
about working at New York University Medical Center.

Shen Luwei, associate professor of Chinese, Tianjin Foreign Studies
University. Fired in January for plagiarizing 10 articles in a book.

Hu Xingrong, journalism professor, Shantou University. Resigned in
2005 after being found to have plagiarized an article he had published
in a Hong Kong journal.

Zhou Yezhong, law professor, Wuhan University. Accused in 2005 of
copying the work of another scholar, Wang Tiancheng, without
attribution. Mr. Wang’s lawsuit against him is pending. The university
has not taken any action.

Qiu Xiaoqing, professor of biomedicine, Sichuan University. Accused in
2005 by an anticorruption Web site of publishing fake research in the
November 2003 issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology. The
university is investigating.

Huang Zongying, English professor, Peking University. Fired in 2004
for plagiarizing two-thirds of a book on T.S. Eliot by a British
scholar.

Wang Mingming, anthropology professor, Peking University. In 2002 a
doctoral student accused him of plagiarizing parts of William A.
Haviland’s book Cultural Anthropology. The university subsequently
removed Mr. Wang from most of his academic posts.

(XYS20060517)

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