University World News: Universities Fail to Tackle Plagiarism

In a news item titled "China, Universities fail to tackle plagiarism," University World News summarizes a few recent fraud cases and the lack of proper resolution. It highlights the work of Fang Zhouzi and his New Threads as:

China's universities are failing to crack down on plagiarism despite an unprecedented education ministry circular sent to them a year ago making them responsible for investigating and dealing with rampant cheating.

A number of high-profile cases have only come to light thanks to outspoken campaigners such as Fang Shimin with his popular literary New Threads website written under his pseudonym Fang Zhouzi and used to highlight academic fraud.

Rather than being rooted out by the universities themselves, individuals report cases of plagiarism to online forums or the New Threads blog, which are then rigorously followed up and checked by Fang, a US-educated biochemist.

But of more than 900 cases of academic corruption highlighted by Fang in recent years, just 20 have resulted in punishment by universities. Most involve students rather than academics, Fang said.