China launches largest-ever academic misconduct crackdown after PhD dropout blogger’s exposés

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) published details of 31 cases involving more than 40 researchers at universities and hospitals on Aug. 26, the South China Morning Post reported.

Among those named were four prominent professors whose research was scrutinized in April by Geng Hongwei, a former PhD student and science blogger known online as "Student Geng." The NSFC revoked their funding and titles, ordered them to return more than 10 million yuan (US$1.49 million) in previously awarded grants and barred them from applying for funding for three to seven years.

All four had been recognized by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, a prestigious program that can serve as a stepping stone to China's top science and engineering academies. Three had served as deans or associate deans.

Geng Hongwei, a former Chinese PhD student and science blogger known online as "Student Geng." Photo from Geng's Weibo

Geng began posting videos in April questioning data in papers co-authored by senior academics at several leading Chinese universities. Videos he posted in April and May had collectively drawn nearly 10 million views by June, according to Nature magazine.

In one case, he examined source data from a November 2024 paper in Nature and found that 76% of 280 data points ended in the number five. He argued that such a pattern was statistically highly unlikely.

He questioned the authenticity of data in five papers and named five researchers at four Chinese universities. The papers appeared in Nature and three other Nature-branded journals, which later added editor's notes alerting readers to concerns over the data.

Three universities subsequently disciplined four of the academics following investigations.

Geng began making science videos in 2022 while pursuing a PhD in biomedical engineering at a Beijing university. He withdrew from the program in his fifth year in 2025, saying he was frustrated by pressure to publish large numbers of papers and saw no viable research career for himself.

His channel on Chinese video platform Bilibili has attracted about 2.2 million followers, while his campaign has also drawn support from Chinese state media.

"As a science blogger, Student Geng single-handedly triggered academic investigations by several institutions. This not only shows that real masters come from the masses, but also reflects the glaring issues of the domestic academic supervision system by putting a mirror in front of it," Xinhua newspaper said in a May editorial.

The NSFC action comes as Beijing steps up efforts to strengthen research integrity while increasing investment in science. President Xi Jinping recently called for "stricter standards" and "more concrete measures" to tackle misconduct and "foster a clean and upright research ecosystem," according to SCMP.

China's Ministry of Science and Technology said in February that universities could face penalties for concealing or tolerating serious research misconduct or failing to properly investigate it.

The government has also established a national database of serious misconduct cases that authorities can consider when assessing scientists for funding, major projects, talent programs, academy elections and awards.

China conducted its first nationwide audit of retracted scientific papers in 2024, requiring universities to investigate suspected misconduct.

An analysis cited by Nature found that, as of 2023, more than half of 50,002 papers retracted worldwide involved at least one Chinese research institution, although researchers caution that retraction figures alone are not a direct measure of scientific misconduct.