Don't be afraid of failure, China tells scientists
2007-08-28

Category Falsification Plagiarism Nations China Metropolitan Shanghai Borough/District Nanhui Profession Scientists

China is drafting a law which will allow scientists to report failures with experiments freely without losing face or affecting future funding, state media said on Tuesday.

Supporters of a change in official attitudes cited the case of Thomas Edison, inventor of the electric lightbulb, saying he failed more than 1,000 times before finding the right filament, Xinhua news agency said.

State media said this month 13 academics had been blacklisted for falsifying scientific data, fabricating applications and plagiarism as the government tries to foster innovation in a fraud-ridden climate.

"Scientists and technicians who have initiated research with a high risk of failure will still have their expenses covered if they can provide evidence that they have tried their best when they failed to achieve their goals," Xinhua quoted a draft amendment to the "Law on Science and Technology Progress" as saying.

Science Minister Wan Gang told lawmakers scientific and technological development depended on innovation which required a relaxed academic atmosphere allowing scientists to take risks.

"The high pressure has been blamed for contributing to rampant academic fraud in China," Xinhua said.

In 2006, Chen Jin, a U.S.-educated dean at Shanghai's elite Jiaotong University, was sacked for faking chip research.

Chen's sacking followed the release of an open letter from a group of 120 Chinese scientists working in the United States that urged tighter procedures for handling scientific misconduct in China.

President Hu Jintao, an engineer by training, has been quoted as saying China must pour more resources into scientific breakthroughs or risk being left a minor player in global technological advances.