Chinese publishers commit to scientific integrity

Nature : In an effort to curb academic misconduct and bring its scientific journals up to international standards, the China Association for Science and Technology in Beijing has committed to taking a stronger stance on fraud and plagiarism by better educating writers and editors and by punishing offenders with written warnings, blacklisting, and public disclosure. In addition, China’s finance ministry plans to give monetary bonuses to journals based on their international and Chinese impact factors, number of overseas subscriptions, and number of foreign editorial-board members. Journal publishing is a huge business in China. Its “5300 journals account for roughly one-third of the world’s science and technology journals and . . . publish around 600 000 papers per year,” writes David Cyranoski for Nature.