Bio journal retracts 107 Chinese research papers

BEIJING: An international medical journal’s retraction of 107 research papers from China, many of them by clinical doctors, has reignited concerns over academic credibility in the country.

Tumor Biology, a journal published by Springer Nature, announced last week that it had retracted the papers after an investigation showed the peer review process had been compromised.

“The articles were submitted with reviewer suggestions, which had real researcher names but fabricated email addresses,” Peter Butler, editorial director for cell biology and biochemistry at Springer Nature, told Shanghaibased news website The Paper.

“The editors thought the articles were being sent out to genuine reviewers in the discipline,” he said. “Following our investigation and communication with the real reviewers, they confirmed they did not conduct the peer review.”

Peer review is an evaluation of work by one or more people of similar competence to those who produce the work, which helps validate research.

The online notice about the retraction lists all 107 articles and 524 authors, nearly all of whom are clinical cancer specialists from China. The hospitals named are all top public institutions.

A Beijing cancer specialist who didn’t want to be named said on Sunday that although there is no excuse for compromising scientific credibility, the incident reveals a widespread dilemma facing Chinese physicians who struggle to strike a balance between overloaded daily work schedules and academic requirements, primarily publishing papers to secure professional development and promotion.

“How many patients do Chinese doctors see a day? It can be more than 50,” he said.

“How can we have the time and energy to do research or publish papers?” — China Daily/Asia News Network