Senior Chinese Scientist Cleared of Fraud and Plagiarism Charges Involving Over 60 Articles Science



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Cao Xuetao was cleared of any scientific misconduct, but still faces penalties.

VCG via Getty Images

By Dennis Normile

A prominent Chinese scientist who has faced image manipulation allegations in dozens of articles has been cleared of serious misconduct, despite being ordered to correct “misused images” in the articles and that he received several other sanctions. Yet several academics involved in or following the case are not happy with the outcome, with some saying he should have been forced to resign.

A brief notification posted on the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) website on January 21 said a group from several ministries and agencies had concluded an investigation into alleged data tampering in articles authored by immunologist Cao Xuetao, president of Nankai University an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Cao is one of the most prominent Chinese scientists to be trapped in allegations of misconduct in recent years.

The investigation was launched in November 2019 after microbiologist Elisabeth Bik, an independent consultant in San Francisco who specializes in finding fake characters, questioned several images in a 2009 article. Journal of Immunology co-written by Cao. After Bik posted his review on the PubPeer discussion site, other contributors spotted problems in other Cao articles.

The 63 articles covered by the MOST investigation contained no evidence of fraud, plagiarism or duplication, according to a single paragraph of the statement, although there were “images that were misused in many articles, reflecting a lack of rigorous management of the laboratory ”.

Cao will not be able to apply for national science and technology projects, will lose his qualification as a scientific expert and will be prohibited from recruiting graduate students, all for 1 year. The notification also ordered him to investigate and correct the documents. It looks like he will keep his post as president of Nankai University, one of China’s most prestigious universities. (On the English-speaking Nankai website, Cao is also listed as one of the university’s two chancellors.) Cao did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

Bik questions the results. In a series of tweets yesterday, she featured a few articles co-authored by Cao in which reusing images could have been honest mistakes. But there is still “several Cao papers where it is very, very unlikely that an “ accident ” has occurredBik tweeted, adding that the duplicates “suggest ‘intent to mislead’. Others also criticize the investigation and the sanctions. “I am not very happy with the conclusions of the Chinese government,” said Huang Futao, a Chinese higher education scholar at Hiroshima University in Japan, who called the result “unfair.” In his position, Cao should set an example of research integrity, Huang said, “He should resign” or lose his post as president of Nankai University.

Huang also says the investigation took too long and criticizes the lack of details in the report. China has adopted regulations and issued guidelines designed to stem the tide of questionable documents; Cao got off lightly, Huang said, probably because of his position and connections. The imposition of sanctions specified in the new guidelines “apparently depends on who you are,” Huang said.

Cao Cong, a science policy expert on the University of Nottingham campus in Ningbo, China, called the survey “very disappointing.” There are no details of who carried it out, what evidence was reviewed or how the conclusions were drawn. “It discredits the mechanism for maintaining research integrity, to say the least,” said Cao Cong, who is unrelated to Cao Xuetao.

Four of Cao Xuetao’s articles were withdrawn in 2020 by the Journal of Biological Chemistry, who also retracted an article by Cao Xuetao in 2015, according to the Retraction Watch website. Three other articles by Cao Xuetao were the subject of expressions of concern last year.

The MOST notification also covers allegations against several other people. The panel found no fraud in two articles by neuroscientist Rao Yi of Capital Medical University, and no evidence of misconduct in five articles by Geng Meiyu of the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which focuses on traditional Chinese medicine. Geng’s research led to a drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease, GV971, which was approved for use in China in 2019, although there was little data on its effectiveness. Geng’s business partner, Green Valley Pharmaceuticals, is planning a global Phase III trial, according to Alzforum, a website that tracks information related to treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.



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