Saturday, May 9, 2009

Academician Accuses Former Student for Plagiarism

It is quite unusual for cases of academic integrity to be discussed in open media in China. Therefore it is quite amazing when an Academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Lu Daopei (陆道培), called for a press conference to accuse his former student for plagiarism. The accused is now the head of a research institute of the People's Hospital affiliated with Peking University by the name of Huang Xiaojun (黄晓军).

Lu Daopei alleged that Huang Xiaojun's 2008 award-winning research in stem cell was a direct derivative of Lu Daopei's earlier research in 2006, in which Huang Xiaojun was also a participant. Lu Daopei accused Huang Xiaojun for plagiarizing the earlier research as well as falsifying data in the later work.

Chinese Medical Association, which awarded a first class prize for Huang Xiaojun's work asked Peking University to investigate, which found Huang Xiaojun innocent. Lu Daopei organized an expert team of his own which concluded that Huang Xiaojun has committed multiple fraud including plagiarism and falsifying data.

Lu Daopei said in the press conference that it is a last resort of his to appeal to public on this matter. He hoped that a third-party investigation could help clarify the matter.

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