Jiangnan University's response to "fabricating authors and withdrawing 8 papers": Reported to the National Natural Science Foundation of China for involvement | Related | Committee | Zhang Cong | National Natural Science Foundation of China | Jiangnan | University | Papers
On July 18th, Jiangnan University responded to Pengpai Technology by stating that it had submitted an investigation report to the National Natural Science Foundation of China regarding the incident where faculty members fabricated papers with authorship and were reported and 8 papers were withdrawn by Nanyang Technological University in Singapore; Each unit of the school conducted a serious self-examination and did not find any similar situations.
What actions will be taken against the parties involved? Has the relevant research funding been recovered?
On the 18th, the head of relevant departments at Jiangnan University told Pengpai Technology that the staff member involved, Zhang Cong, has resigned and "is no longer our person."; The National Natural Science Foundation of China has currently made a decision to handle the incident.
But the person in charge stated that the relevant handling decision is in the hands of relevant personnel in the academic committee of the school, and he does not have control.
Regarding the incident, on the 18th, staff from the publicity department of the National Natural Science Foundation of China told Pengpai Technology that they have not yet learned of the relevant situation. Generally speaking, functional departments handle similar incidents, and if the results of the handling are discussed and deemed public by relevant leaders, they will be published on the official website of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
In 2019, Jiangnan University, as a supporting unit, and Zhang Cong as the project leader, received a funding of 250000 yuan from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
According to a previous report by Pengpai Technology, the website of the National Natural Science Foundation of China showed that in 2019, Jiangnan University, as a supporting unit, and Zhang Cong as the project leader, received a funding of 250000 yuan. The project was titled "Research on the High Temperature Burst Mechanism and Mechanical Performance Degradation Law of Hybrid Fiber Self compacting Concrete Tunnel Segments in Fire". The gratitude content of the 8 papers involved mentioned that the relevant research has been funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Open Project of the Key Laboratory of Environmental Disaster and Structural Reliability in Civil Engineering of Jiangsu Province.
![Jiangnan University's response to "fabricating authors and withdrawing 8 papers": Reported to the National Natural Science Foundation of China for involvement | Related | Committee | Zhang Cong | National Natural Science Foundation of China | Jiangnan | University | Papers](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/29be2551f18dfb9f6aae828e42ab172d.jpg)
The response letter from Jiangnan University stated that the university was aware of the above-mentioned academic misconduct incident on April 17, 2023. The university received a letter from the National Natural Science Foundation of China stating that four papers marked with Zhang Cong's funded Youth Science Fund project were suspected of scientific research misconduct, and subsequently launched an investigation. But in February 2023, Zhang Cong resigned from the School of Environment and Civil Engineering at the university. On April 26th, Zhang Cong's current employer provided feedback that he had contacted the relevant journal and withdrew his paper. After verification, it was found that Zhang Cong fabricated Toshiyuki Bangi from Nanyang Technological University as the authorship of four papers, which is true. "The university has formed an investigation report and submitted it to the National Natural Science Foundation of China."
Why did Jiangnan University verify that 4 papers were true, while 8 papers were withdrawn?
The person in charge of relevant departments at Jiangnan University responded to Pengpai Technology, stating that the previous letter from the National Natural Science Foundation of China to Jiangnan University only mentioned four problematic papers; In addition, Zhang Cong has resigned.
According to a previous report by Pengpai Technology, as of June 27, 2023, three international academic journals have published identical withdrawal statements online, with 8 papers withdrawn. The withdrawal statement states that due to the fictional authorship of a non-existent author in the paper, Toshiyuki Bangi, a researcher at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, the editorial department of the relevant journal withdrew the paper after receiving a complaint from the Research Integrity Department of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. The corresponding authors of the paper in question are all Zhang Cong, whose signing unit is the School of Environment and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University.
The aforementioned response letter from Jiangnan University stated that for a long time, it has attached great importance to academic integrity education and has zero tolerance for various types of academic misconduct.
According to the official website of Jiangnan University, it is a key construction university of the "211 Project" and a "Double First Class" construction university directly under the Ministry of Education. It has achieved excellent results in the latest round of national first-class discipline evaluation organized by the Ministry of Education.