28 Medical Paper Misconduct Cases — Including Data Fabrication and Paper Trading — Publicly Disclosed

On July 10, the National Health Commission (NHC) publicly disclosed 28 cases of research misconduct, involving issues such as data fabrication, paper trading, and honorary (gift) authorship.

Full text of the public notice on selected research misconduct cases (fourth batch):

I. Jia Junqing (Shanxi Bethune Hospital) served as corresponding author, Shang Peng (Shanxi Bethune Hospital) as first author, and Liu Ying as another author, for the paper "Paeonol inhibits inflammatory response and protects chondrocytes by upregulating sirtuin 1" published in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology on March 2, 2022. An investigation found that the paper involved the misconduct of trading experimental data. In accordance with the Rules for the Investigation and Handling of Research Misconduct (Guo Ke Fa Jian [2022] No. 221), the authors' institutions imposed the following penalties on those responsible (where the same individual is involved in multiple cases, the penalties are consolidated and not duplicated, with the most severe penalty applied):

Regarding corresponding author Jia Junqing: a research-integrity admonition talk; public notification within a defined scope; a 10-year ban on undertaking or participating in science and technology programs (special projects, funds, etc.) and other science and technology activities supported by fiscal funds; cancellation of eligibility to apply for or be nominated for science and technology awards and science and technology talent titles for 10 years; cancellation of eligibility as a review expert and similar roles for 5 years; cancellation of eligibility for excellence and merit evaluations for 5 years; entry into the serious research-integrity misconduct database.

Regarding first author Shang Peng: a research-integrity admonition talk; public notification within a defined scope; a 3-year ban on undertaking or participating in science and technology programs (special projects, funds, etc.) and other science and technology activities supported by fiscal funds; cancellation of eligibility to apply for or be nominated for science and technology awards and science and technology talent titles for 3 years; cancellation of eligibility as a review expert and similar roles for 3 years; cancellation of eligibility for excellence and merit evaluations for 3 years; entry into the serious research-integrity misconduct database.

Regarding other author Liu Ying: no research misconduct was established, and no action was taken.

II. Jia Junqing (Shanxi Bethune Hospital) and Liu Qiang (Shanxi Bethune Hospital) served as corresponding authors, Shang Peng (Shanxi Bethune Hospital) as first author, and Liu Ying, Ren Jie, Liu Qingqing, and Song Haobo as other authors, for the paper "Overexpression of miR-532-5p restrains oxidative stress response of chondrocytes in nontraumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head by inhibiting ABL1" published in Open Medicine on March 30, 2024. An investigation found that the paper involved the misconduct of trading experimental data. In accordance with the Rules for the Investigation and Handling of Research Misconduct (Guo Ke Fa Jian [2022] No. 221), the authors' institutions imposed the following penalties on those responsible (where the same individual is involved in multiple cases, the penalties are consolidated and not duplicated, with the most severe penalty applied):

Regarding corresponding author Jia Junqing: penalties as stated above.

Regarding corresponding author Liu Qiang: no research misconduct was established, and no action was taken.

Regarding first author Shang Peng: penalties as stated above.

Regarding other authors Liu Ying, Ren Jie, Liu Qingqing, and Song Haobo: no research misconduct was established, and no action was taken.

III. Zhang Ping (Jiangxi Provincial People's Hospital) served as corresponding author, Hu Fan (Jiangxi Provincial People's Hospital) as first author, and Nie Hongbing, Xu Renxian, Cai Xinyong, and Shao Liang as other authors, for the paper "Vinpocetine and coenzyme Q10 combination alleviates cognitive impairment caused by ionizing radiation by improving mitophagy" published in Brain Research on July 27, 2022. An investigation found that the paper involved such misconduct as authorship without substantive academic contribution, fabrication of the research process, and falsification of research records. In accordance with the Rules for the Investigation and Handling of Research Misconduct (Guo Ke Fa Jian [2022] No. 221), the authors' institutions imposed the following penalties on those responsible (where the same individual is involved in multiple cases, the penalties are consolidated and not duplicated, with the most severe penalty applied):

Regarding corresponding author Zhang Ping: a research-integrity admonition talk; public notification within a defined scope; a lifetime ban on undertaking or participating in science and technology programs (special projects, funds, etc.) and other science and technology activities supported by fiscal funds; termination or revocation of fiscal-fund support, related academic awards, and honors obtained through research misconduct; cancellation of eligibility to apply for or be nominated for science and technology awards, science and technology talent titles, review expert status, and similar roles for 10 years; entry into the serious research-integrity misconduct database; recovery of the research awards and publication-fee subsidies involved in the paper; and an order to retract the paper.

Regarding first author Hu Fan: a research-integrity admonition talk; public notification within a defined scope; a 10-year ban on undertaking or participating in science and technology programs (special projects, funds, etc.) and other science and technology activities supported by fiscal funds; termination or revocation of fiscal-fund support, related academic awards, and honors obtained through research misconduct; cancellation of eligibility to apply for or be nominated for science and technology awards, science and technology talent titles, and similar roles for 2 years; cancellation of eligibility to apply for professional-title promotion, excellence and merit evaluations for 2 years; suspension of graduate-student admissions for 2 years; entry into the serious research-integrity misconduct database; recovery of the research awards and publication-fee subsidies involved in the paper.

Regarding other authors Nie Hongbing, Xu Renxian, Cai Xinyong, and Shao Liang: no research misconduct was established; they received research-integrity warning education.

This is an English translation of the first portion of the National Health Commission's fourth-batch public notice on research misconduct. The original notice lists 28 cases in total.