"Only if people could emphasize quality rather than quantity, so no researchers rush out papers for publication," she said.

Huang Yong, the vice-chief of the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said 70 fraudulent papers reflect badly on other serious scientific work.

"It causes a bad influence. Such a scientific journal is like a dictionary and every paper is a new word in this dictionary. Other scientists might reference it in their further research," he was quoted by People Daily's yesterday.

Universities and colleges are ranked based on the number of papers its staff write and by their references in influential journals, with many still opting to shelter those who break the rules to protect their resources in the hope of future accomplishments and funds, an inside source told China Daily earlier.

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