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International - Activity
Chinese Scientists Address Misconduct
Volume 7, No. 3, June 1999
China joined the parade of nations beginning to address scientific
misconduct in February when a national meeting of journal editors
and scientific society officers, organized by the China Association
for Science and Technology, adopted a code of conduct designed to
reduce the incidence of plagiarism, fabrication and other acts of
misconduct by Chinese scientists, according to Science.
The seven-part "Moral Convention" suggests "that
authors found to have committed plagiarism, fabrication, or falsification
of data be warned in writing, followed by a boycott of future articles,
notification of their home institution, and public disclosure of
their misdeeds," Science reported. A former journal
officer said, "There must be no compromise over dishonesty
and no cover-up. Taking pity will harm the cause of science."
Some scientists feel adoption of the code of conduct will not be
sufficient to root out the problem, according to Science.
Others "fear that self-interest may stifle efforts to root
out misconduct" unless a broad national policy is developed
to address the problem.
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