An international medical journal's retraction¹ of 107 research papers from China, many of them by clinical doctors, has reignited concerns over academic credibility in the country.

一家国际医学杂志撤销了107篇中国学术论文，由此引发了人们对中国学术诚信的关注。被撤稿的作者多数是临床医生。

Tumor² Biology, a journal published by Springer Nature, announced last week that it had retracted³ the papers after an investigation⁴ showed the peer review process had been compromised.

由施普林格自然集团出版的杂志《肿瘤生物学》上周宣布，调查显示，这107篇论文的同行评审过程存在问题，因此已被撤稿。

"The articles were submitted with reviewer suggestions, which had real researcher names but fabricated email addresses," Peter Butler, editorial director for cell biology and biochemistry at Springer Nature, told Shanghai-based news website The Paper.

施普林格自然集团细胞生物学和生物化学编辑部主任皮特?巴特勒对上海澎湃新闻网站表示：“这些论文提交的评审人建议中，使用了评审人的真实姓名，但假冒了其电子邮件地址。”

"The editors thought the articles were being sent out to genuine reviewers in the discipline," he said. "Following our investigation and communication with the real reviewers, they confirmed they did not conduct the peer review."

“这让编辑以为文章发送给了该学科真正的评审人。我们与真正的评审人进行调查和沟通后，他们确认并没有对论文做过评审。

Peer review is an evaluation⁵ of work by one or more people of similar competence⁶ to those who produce the work, which helps validate⁷ research.

同行评审指由一个或多个与论文作者业务能力相当的人进行评估，这有助于对研究进行验证。

The online notice about the retraction lists all 107 articles and 524 authors, nearly all of whom are clinical cancer specialists from China. The hospitals named are all top public institutions.

网上的撤稿公告共列出了107篇论文及524位作者，他们几乎都是中国临床肿瘤专家。所涉及的医院都是顶级公立机构。

A Beijing cancer specialist who didn't want to be named said on Sunday that although there is no excuse for compromising scientific credibility, the incident reveals a widespread dilemma⁸ facing Chinese physicians who struggle to strike a balance between overloaded⁹ daily work schedules and academic requirements, primarily publishing papers to secure professional development and promotion¹⁰.

一位不具名的北京癌症专家23日称，虽说破坏科学公信力的行为不该有任何借口，但是这起事件揭示了中国医生面临的普遍困境，即在超负荷的日常工作安排与发表论文以争取职业发展和升职的主要学术要求之间很难维持平衡。

"How many patients do Chinese doctors see a day? It can be more than 50," he told China Daily. "How can we have the time and energy to do research or publish papers?"

他告诉《中国日报》：“中国医生每天要看多少病人？可能超过50个。我们怎么可能有时间和精力做研究或发论文呢？”

For those outside the scientific community, the response to the retraction has been mixed.

科学圈外的人士对论文撤稿的反应不一。

"Hard to believe so many doctors lied in the papers. Can patients still trust them to help us treat diseases?" wrote one Sina Weibo user.

一位新浪微博网友写道：“不敢相信这么多医生都在论文中造假。病人还能相信他们可以帮人治病吗？”

However, others argued that doctors' hands may be forced by an unfair system. "As a patient, I'm more concerned about whether they can cure my illness rather than how many papers they've published," another netizen said.

然而，还有人认为医生的所作所为可能是受不公平的体制所迫。另一位网友称：“作为一个病人，我更关心他们能否治好我的病，而不是他们发表了多少论文。”

Wang Chunfa, executive secretary of the China Association for Science and Technology, has expressed deep concern over the retraction, which came just days after he met in Beijing with Arnout Jacobs, the head of Springer Nature for Greater China.

中国科学技术协会书记处书记王春法对撤稿事件表示深切关注，事件发生几天前，他刚在北京与施普林格自然集团大中华地区总裁安诺杰会面沟通。

In that meeting, he told Jacobs that such problems would decrease, as China is reforming its management system in science and technology, according to a statement by the association on Friday.

据中国科协21日发表的声明称，在会谈中，王春法对安诺杰表示，中国正在进行科技管理体制改革，此类问题将有所减少。

Wang said the journal and authors had an unavoidable responsibility in the latest scandal, with the statement adding that Tumor Biology had retracted papers over similar concerns about the peer review process in 2015.

他说，杂志和作者在这起最近发生的丑闻中都有不可推卸的责任，声明中还说，《肿瘤生物学》在2015年就已经因同行评议过程存在类似问题而撤销一些论文。

Verification and evaluation should be enhanced before publication, Wang said.

王春法说，在出版前应加强审查和评估。

Jacobs vowed¹¹ at the meeting to improve management and cooperation with the association to enhance the credibility of the science. He stressed the publisher was not targeting China, as it had also retracted papers by experts from other countries, the statement said.

声明表示，安诺杰在会谈中承诺将加强管理，增强与中国科协的合作，提升科学公信力。他强调，施普林格自然集团并非针对中国，他们也撤销过其他国家专家的论文。