China’s research paper boom could be a ‘false prosperity’, academician warns

A top scientist has sharply criticised China’s increasingly resource-driven research culture, warning that a reliance on vast accumulated funding, manpower and data for scientific output is inefficient and actively undermines genuine innovation.

Zhang Hong, a senior cell biologist at the Institute of Biophysics in Beijing and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, condemned what he called “a vicious cycle” in how life sciences research was increasingly done in China.

Projects were inflated for scale, engineered to land in elite journals and then cashed in for titles and even greater resources, he told science communication outlet The Intellectual in an article it posted to its social media account on Monday.

“You often hear people boasting about publishing a paper that costs tens of millions of yuan in a top journal like Science, Nature or Cell. What they’re really showing off is how many resources they control,” Zhang said.

This kind of research, while good at chasing hot topics and expanding existing ideas – often known as “1-to-100” science – has squeezed out the space, culture and funding needed for true innovation, according to Zhang.

  

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