First international seminar on research integrity at China’s Chongqing University

Chongqing University hosted an international seminar on research integrity this month – the first in a planned series on the topic.   

The seminar, which was also broadcast live worldwide in both Chinese and English, was set up in response to the Central Government’s “Several Opinions on Further Strengthening the Construction of Scientific Research Integrity” and other related documents. For organisers, key goals included helping to create a good research environment conducive to innovation and creativity, and building a healthy academic ecology of honesty and trustworthiness.

Ming Ju, Standing Committee Member of the Party Committee and Vice President of Chongqing University, delivered a speech on behalf of the university. He told attendees that scientific research integrity is the cornerstone of science and technology innovation, and highlighted the great progress that China continues to make in this area. For example, at Chongqing University, efforts have been made to educate and guide teachers and students to adhere to academic integrity, abide by academic ethics, promote the spirit of science, and create a good atmosphere of research integrity.

Prof. Ju was joined by guest speakers Professor Zhang Yuehong of Zhejiang University, Dr. Nandita Quaderi, Editor-in-Chief of Clarivate Web of Science, and Dr. Elisabeth Bik, a Research Integrity Consultant. They shared their perspectives as scientists and journal editors and spoke about open science and research integrity and creating an academic ecology to identify misconduct in research integrity. They also proposed new initiatives to deal with academic misconduct, and called on the whole community to play a more active role in building research integrity.

The seminar was chaired by Professor Zhang Yuxin from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Chongqing University, who is also Executive Deputy Editor-in-chief of the university journal Nano Materials Science. And it was hosted by the editorial departments of Nano Materials Science and Journal of Magnesium and Alloys, and Journal of Zhejiang University. It was co-organised by the Journal Research Association of Universities in Chongqing, nanoer.net, and 51leaning - Research Service Innovation Platform.