Elite researchers in China say they had ‘no choice’ but to commit misconduct

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Interviews with staff and students at three elite Chinese universities revealed a sense of pressure to publish. Credit: Hao Qunying/Costfoto/Sipa USA via Alamy
“I had no choice but to commit [research] misconduct,” admits a researcher at an elite Chinese university. The shocking revelation is documented in a collection of several dozen anonymous, in-depth interviews offering rare, first-hand accounts of researchers who engaged in unethical behaviour — and describing what tipped them over the edge. An article based on the interviews was published in April in the journal Research Ethics¹.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01697-y
Zhang, X. & and Wang, P. Res. Ethics https://doi.org/10.1177/17470161241247720 (2024).
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