Publish or perish in China

“Pressures to publish: Scientists subjected to direct or indirect pressures to publish might be more likely to exaggerate the magnitude and importance of their results to secure many high-impact publications and new grants (22, 23).”

“Finally, in a few countries researchers are rewarded with cash incentives, which are arguably not the source of actual pressures but rather a source of corruption [12].”

“Some Chinese scientists may resort to plagiarized or fabricated research, purchase ghostwritten papers, or sell authorship (Hvistendahl, 2013; Qiu, 2010).”

“There is even evidence of an industry of authorship for sale in China, in which authorship is sold to scholars at rates than often exceed salaries (Hvistendahl, 2013).”

“When the government evaluates scientists and research institutions, it tends to use standardized and mechanistic methods, such as counting the number of publications and citations in top journals (45).”

“The increasing number of authors from these Third World countries (Brazil, China, India) may be further attributed to increased government funding and research support (Zhou et al., 2009; Qiu 2010; Zhang et al., 2013).”

“Some Chinese scientists may resort to plagiarized or fabricated research, purchase ghostwritten papers, or sell authorship (Hvistendahl, 2013; Qiu, 2010).”

“One key reason for this is the massive increase in funding and support for research by the government in recent years (e.g. Qiu 2010; Zhang et al. 2013).”

“It is also reported that Chinese universities are giving faculty “cash prizes, housing benefits or other perks on the basis of high-profile publications” [19].”

“Such a pattern of modulating forces may gradually become more prevalent also in other countries currently and in the near future (18, 20, 21).”

“Two examples being the retraction of 70 Chinese articles from a prominent British journal and 21% of articles by Chinese authors in a Croatian medical publication (Baždarić et al., 2012; Qiu, 2010).”

“…Framework), and/or in countries in which career advancement is determined by publications (e.g. tenure-track system in the United States of America) and/or in countries in which researchers are rewarded with cash for their high-impact publications [e.g. reward policies in China, see (Qiu 2010)].”

“…details of these reforms vary, the tenure-track policies frequently include an initial 3–6-year short-term contract, adopting strict performance assessment mechanisms, and the dismissal of academic staff who were unable to meet the standards of tenure during a fixed employment period (Qiu, 2010).”

“Among these, the influence of the publish or perish system has been widely discussed (Garfield 1996; Anderson et al. 2007a; Qiu 2010; Colquhoun 2011; Casadevall and Fang 2012).”

“The breaking of the “iron rice bowl”, “publish or perish” [15,16], and widening salary differences weakened the original stability and security of the academic profession and greatly increased the pressure and intensity of work [16,17].”

“This is an issue for authors because journals traditionally publish mostly significant findings (Rosenthal, 1979), with researchers’ careers heavily reliant upon such papers (Qiu, 2010; Wang et al., 2019a).”

“The second level was evidenced in their desire to steer clear of the alleged corruption in society and unethical academic practice on university campuses in mainland China (Qiu 2010).”

“It is also well documented that a huge market for ghostwritten or “artificial” scientific publications and forged certificates of all kinds as well as citation cartels emerged in China (Hvistendahl, 2013; Qiu, 2010: 143).”

“The consequences of this pressure have led to bad practices on the part of researchers maddened by the furious itch to publish and that in some countries like China is still magnified (Qiu, 2010).”

“In addition, pressure of publication in EAL countries has also been cited as a contributing factor (Brumfiel 2007; Perry 2010; Qiu 2010).”

“universities award ‘‘cash prizes, housing benefits or other perks on the basis of high-profile publications’’ (Qiu 2010) and at the same time are increasingly confronted with dubious science-publishing activities.”

“Chinese universities award cash prizes, housing benefits, or other perks on the basis of high-profile publications [5].”

“Some of the common reasons for scientific wrongdoing are the result of rewards in the form of cash (Qiu 2010), acknowledgment, acceptance among peers, and promotion (Yi, Nemery, and Dierickx 2019).”

“15 As increased pressure to publish is a general pattern in academia, it makes the high acceptance rates and rapid review system of mega-journals increasingly attractive.”

“Furthermore, and specifically in relation to the higher education context, the publish-or-perish culture increasingly prevalent worldwide has served to incline Chinese academics away from a focus on pedagogical developments and other activities, in favour of outputs that many view as a higher priority for the universi…”

“Qiu (2010) reports on evidence that cash prizes for publication incentivised Chinese academics to publish as much as possible.”

“This finding indicates that increasing government funding and investment in research is indispensable to foster research productivity (see also Lei and Liu, 2019b; Qiu, 2010; Zhang et al., 2013; Zhou et al., 2009).”

“Indeed, “one-size-fits-all” criteria are used regardless of position or profession (Qiu 2010; Yu, Yang, and Qi 2017).”

“Ye B, Liu AH: Inadequate evaluation of medical doctors in China.”

“In 1980, a misconduct scandal in the field of research was emphasized in the United States, which later appeared in other countries, including China (Qiu 2010; Resnik, Rasmussen, and Kissling 2015).”

“These challenges are influenced by larger concerns in an academic system that wrestles with research misconduct in higher education (Gow, 2014; Qiu, 2010).”

“For example, authors from China and India showed remarkably high rates of manuscript submissions on weekends, perhaps reflecting a high pressure to publish papers by academic institutions of both countries (e.g. Qiu, 2010).”

“Studies have found that researchers in highly competitive environments, including China [57,58], have turned to AI to meet publication quotas, raising questions about the authenticity and depth of AI-assisted work.”

“For those who are good users of academic English and have access to international TS journals, they usually submit manuscripts to SSCI- or A&HCI-indexed journals of high publication frequency since research assessment policies in most universities emphasize quantity over quality (Qiu, 2010).”

“This hypothesis was particularly relevant to China, where high-ranking universities are known to reward authors with relatively modest cash amounts that are proportional to the actual citation impact of articles, whereas low-ranking universities give higher rewards based on the impact factor of the journal in which th…”

“According to Qiu [11]: “One-third of more than 6,000 surveyed across six top Chinese institutions admitted to plagiarism, falsification or fabrication.”

“Qiu (2010) surveyed 2000 researchers across 10 Beijing universities and found that about one-third admitted to engaging in unethical practices.”

“As a result of this pressure, teachers may behave in unexpected ways, which could have unforeseen consequences (Jiang et al., 2024; Qiu, 2010).”

“The term “publish or perish” is more real than most higher education teachers might want to admit (Ding, 2001; Génova & de la Vara, 2019; Nabout et al. , 2015; Qiu, 2010).”

“In China, for example, not only are cash incentives offered to successful authors, but sometimes even housing benefits, and this must inevitably entice some researchers to fabricate data, plagiarise other works and generally behave unethically [12].”

“Geographic and cultural differences may occur [e.g., Qiu, 2010], but will probably disappear or diminish over time as a result of the globalization of science.”

“In order to respond to these challenges, the government has been reforming the academic evaluation system that placed much emphasis on the number of publications (Qiu, 2010), and has announced strict regulations against academic fraud (Normile, 2017).”

“…Chinese government policies and the developments underway (e.g., Feng, Beckett, & Huang, 2013; Guilford, 2013; Jiang, 2004; Lu & Hayhoe, 2004; Moiwo & Tao, 2013; Park, 2011; Peng, 2011; Qiu, 2010, 2015; Quan, Chen, & Shu, 2017; Tam, & Chen, 2010; Tian, 2013; Tian, Su, & Ru, 2016; Yang, 2005, 2006).”

“The latter includes institutional factors such as a lack of clear scientific misconduct policies, research integrity training and/or peer/institutional oversight, as well as more general factors, such as unhealthy competition for resources, particularly research funding (Harvey 2020) and publication pressure (Gandevia…”

“Scientists in the scientific community are frequently under pressure to publish early in their academic careers, and the culture of "publish or perish" not only encourages academic misconduct (Qiu, 2010) but also creates an imbalance between the work and personal lives of scientists, resulting in a slew of issues.”

“With the exponential increase in research publications, publish or perish or pilfer syndrome in Nigerian academia[13,15,20,21] and other parts of the world such as china[46] and India,[47] there is need for Table 5: Enabling factors, punitive and preventive”

“A main reason alleged for this misconduct was the culture of jigong jinli (seeking quick success and short-term gain), revealed by one of the people involved in the survey (Qiu, 2010).”

“…Lannes, Carmo, & de Meis, 2003; De Rond & Miller, 2005; De Villiers & Malan, 1997; Good, 1964; Lofthouse, 1974; Mackay, 1974; Mitchell & Reichel, 1999; Nash & Walsh, 2000; Parchomovsky, 2000; Plümper & Radaelli, 2004; Qiu, 2010; Relman, 1977; Rhee, 2004; Smith, 2004; Yimin, ). rights reserved.”

“However, the focus on quantifiable outcomes may bring potential negative and unintended effects on scientific productivity and harm the practice of science (Qiu, 2010; Sandy & Shen, 2018).”