China’s strides towards reform have been well received domestically and abroad, but effecting lasting change is hard2. To better characterize the situation, my team has studied global retraction data alongside national grants and applications that were revoked. We also surveyed researchers online and interviewed major stakeholders in China3,4. These included experts on university ethics committees, programmes for research-integrity training and plagiarism detection, as well as funding-programme managers, journal editors and academics. Here, I outline major challenges in research integrity, and potential strategies and solutions to buttress it.
A swift increase in scientific productivity has outstripped the country’s ability to promote rigour and curb academic misconduct; it is time to seize solutions.