Actor’s degree revoked over plagiarism

The Beijing Film Academy has revoked the doctoral degree of actor Zhai Tianlin after he was found to have plagiarized other people’s work, the academy announced on Tuesday. An investigation confirmed that Zhai had used others’ opinions without citation as key arguments in an essay published under his name in an academic journal. Publication was a requirement for the degree. His instructor, Chen Yi, was barred from instructing any more doctoral students. Chen was found to have been negligent in safeguarding academic ethics and norms, and failed to guide and review the essay in a responsible manner, the academy said.