(ECNS) - Tsinghua University has withdrawn a student's title of doctor and suspended his supervisor’s ability to enroll graduate students following serious academic misconduct.
A group of materials scientists at the prestigious university’s graduate school in Shenzhen earned 11 retractions and three corrections for image manipulation, duplication, deceptive authorship and other misconduct, according to Retraction Watch. The papers, usually authored by Tang Guoyi and Ye Xiaoxin, appeared in a variety of materials journals dating back to 2014. The most recent publications were in 2016.
The graduate school at Shenzhen said Ye pursued a PhD in materials science and engineering and graduated in July 2015 under Tang’s supervision. After receiving reports of academic fraud in March 2016, Tang organized a thorough review of Ye’s 16 papers and discovered widespread problems, so he requested the articles be retracted.
In January 2017, the university’s academic committee determined after an investigation that Ye was guilty of serious academic misconduct and that his supervisor Tang also needed to be held responsible. Then in April, the university decided to cancel Ye’s doctoral degree, while Tang was suspended from his position as the deputy director of the New Materials Research Institute.
Professor Tang, who has retired from the university, declined to comment, Beijing Youth Daily reported.
Tsinghua University also vowed to maintain a zero-tolerance attitude toward academic misconduct.
