Latest from China: fabricated papers, fake peer reviews

FROM the land that brought to you poisonous toothpaste, toxic pet food and milk powder that sickened and killed children now comes a new perilous product: fabricated papers in medical journals with fake peer reviews written by fabricated cancer specialists.

In April, publishing company Springer Nature announced that it was retracting 107 research papers by Chinese authors after discovering irregularities in the peer review process of articles published in the journal Tumour Biology between 2012 and 2016. The retraction of over 100 papers constituted the largest single withdrawal of academic papers, according to Retraction Watch, which monitors academic fraud.

China has risen rapidly in recent years and played an increasingly important role not only in the economy but in virtually all spheres. But, along the way, it has also hit a few bumps, when greedy Chinese business people put money ahead of people's safety and welfare in China and abroad.