Research misconduct in China
Towards an institutional analysis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21787578 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Xinqu Zhang (0000-0002-6212-4880, Chinese University of Hong Kong, corresponding author), Peng Wang (0000-0003-3639-6126, Chinese University of Hong Kong) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 76-96 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Research Ethics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1747-0161 • E-ISSN: 2047-6094 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/17470161241247720 |
| OpenAlex | W4394977998 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 21 |
Unethical research practices are prevalent in China, but little research has focused on the causes of these practices. Drawing on the criminology literature on organisational deviance, as well as the concept of cengceng jiama , which illustrates the increase of pressure in the process of policy implementation within a top-down bureaucratic hierarchy, this article develops an institutional analysis of research misconduct in Chinese universities. It examines both universities and the policy environment of Chinese universities as contexts for research misconduct. Specifically, this article focuses on China’s Double First-Class University Initiative and its impact on elite universities that respond to the policy by generating new incentive structures to promote research quality and productivity as well as granting faculties and departments greater flexibility in terms of setting high promotion criteria concerning research productivity. This generates enormous institutional tensions and strains, encouraging and sometimes even compelling individual researchers who wish to survive to decouple their daily research activities from ethical research norms. This article is written based on empirical data collected from three elite universities as well as a review of policy documents, universities’ internal documents, and news articles
China · Criminology · Institutional analysis · Misconduct · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Academic integrity and plagiarism · Deception detection and forensic psychology · Law · Psychology
Mediated situational ethics in cross-cultural child participatory research
Institutionalizing Ethics, Encountering Misconduct
Academic Misconduct in China’s Physiology and Medicine Sector
Perceptions of Research Misconduct Among Lecturers and Students in Vietnam
Types of peer review comments and how to respond to them
The Chinese Dilemma of Research Misconduct
Writing Away Responsibility
Research Misconduct in Chinese Universities
What price the building of world-class universities? Academic pressure faced by young lecturers at a research-centered University in China
The organizational reasons for wrongdoing. The case of Italy’s Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM)
Beyond ‘bad apples’ and ‘weak leaders’
Modes of Governance in the Chinese Bureaucracy
An Institutional Explanation of Media Corruption in China
Soft power, university rankings and knowledge production
China’s double first-class university strategy
China's Hybrid Adaptive Bureaucracy
| Citations per year | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |