The General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, China's Cabinet, recently issued a document to enhance honesty in scientific research.

The aim is to optimize the technological innovation environment and promote the establishment of an institutional system to prevent misconduct in scientific research. The document calls for attention to be paid to both the prevention and punishment of misconduct in scientific research, and for a zero-tolerance attitude to be held toward dishonest behavior in scientific research.

The Ministry of Science and Technology will be responsible for preventing scientific research misconduct in the natural science field, while the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences will take charge in the fields of philosophy and social sciences.

A system to ensure honesty in scientific research is essential in order to encourage scientific research and innovation, and to create a solid base for building China into a world class technology power.

In addition, a lifetime accountability system for academic cheating will be established, and those caught cheating will be seriously dealt with.