Senior Chinese research integrity official investigated for academic fraud
More than 60 papers co-authored by Xuetao Cao have been flagged on PubPeer for problematic images
The Chinese Academy of Engineering has launched an investigation into prominent Chinese immunologist Xuetao Cao, the president of Nankai University in Tianjin, after allegations of image manipulation in several of his papers surfaced online. Elisabeth Bik, a microbiologist-turned-science integrity expert based in San Francisco, California, uncovered the unusual image patterns while screening the literature. More than 60 papers co-authored by Cao, who is a senior figure in the Chinese research integrity world…