(11 May 2023) The National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NSLCAS), in collaboration with the Swiss Embassy in China, SwissNex, and leading science publisher Frontiers, recently organized a joint workshop on Research Integrity. The event, held in Beijing, aimed to foster discussions on upholding the quality and integrity of scientific research.
Switzerland and China, both actively engaged in international research collaborations, recognize the significance of addressing research integrity as a shared responsibility. The workshop took place against the backdrop of China’s remarkable growth in the quantity and quality of scientific research papers. According to a report published in 2022 by Japan’s National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP), China surpassed the United States for the first time, contributing 27.2% of the world’s most-cited papers between 2018 and 2020. Additionally, the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and their role in supporting scientific research pose both opportunities and challenges to research integrity.
The workshop brought together a diverse range of participants, including representatives from research institutions, universities, foundations, and academic publishers. Notable attendees included the National Science Foundation of China, NSLCAS Center of Research Integrity (CORI), the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, the Society of Chinese University Journals, the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and Tsinghua University, among others.
CORI introduced its academic article early warning system AMEND, which monitors and warns against problematical publications at the article level. As a publisher of research papers, Frontiers provided practical examples of the use of technology to safeguard research integrity through a demonstration of how its award-winning AI tool AIRA is incorporated into the internal workflow from article submission to final publication to identify fraudulent or low-quality manuscripts.
The workshop’s panelists engaged in insightful discussions on the role of bibliometrics and technology in safeguarding research integrity, drawing on the perspectives of libraries and journals. They also addressed the importance of teaching research integrity to the next generation of academics and the development of AI-assisted research.
The original press release is here.
