An article published Monday in the journal Nature detailed how China is only now bothering to actually conduct a national review of their scientific mistakes over the last three years.
More than 17,000 Chinese co-authored retractions have occurred from 2021 to the present, according to an analysis conducted by Nature. And by Feb. 15, every Chinese university must have reportedly completed an audit of all “retracted research papers” and a probe of all “research misconduct.” From there, institutions must submit a “comprehensive list of all academic articles retracted from English- and Chinese-language journals in the past three years,” the magazine reported.
The enormous decision, which significantly undermines both China’s position in the scientific world and pretty much all China-based researchers, was prompted after one Hindawi — a subsidiary of the publisher Wiley — retracted “a large number of papers by Chinese authors,” according to Nature.
“A Nature analysis shows that last year, Hindawi issued more than 9,600 retractions, of which the vast majority — about 8,200 — had a co-author in China.” https://t.co/K3nhQlctIP
— Nicholas A. Christakis (@NAChristakis) February 12, 2024
“These retractions … have adversely affected our country’s academic reputation and academic environment,” a Nov. 20 notice from the Ministry of Education’s Department of Science, Technology and Informatization reportedly said, somewhat ironically ignoring China’s total refusal to investigate the outbreak of COVID-19, and how China’s academic and scientific reputation was already in tatters as a result of the pandemic. (RELATED: Mutant COVID-19 Strain With 100% Kill Rate Developed In China)
Researchers said they’re unclear about what will happen after the review is completed, Nature reported. It’s reportedly hoped that most academics who were forced to retract their work will feel so embarrassed it’ll help curb misconduct into the future. Having spent time with loads of academics and scientists, I can’t see that happening. But it’s a nice thought.
Let’s just hope that all English-language academic and scientific journals start placing far higher scrutiny on all research. Can you imagine how bad the world would become if we listened to bad science and tried to build a society around it? (RELATED: Don’t Panic Guys, China’s Just Messing Around With Dark Matter. We’re Sure It’ll Be Fine (Not))
Oh wait, that’s already how we live! There are psychotics publishing garbage claims that “gender affirming care” is good, and not just a type of forced sterilization and childhood genital mutilation. And no wonder so many people fell for the propaganda during the pandemic. It’s just that easy to manipulate, y’all!
And since other academics will use retracted studies (pre-retraction) for their own research, there’s no way to know quite how many stupid ideas have gained unnecessary traction in the last three years. Isn’t that a nice thought? Said no one, ever.