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Why is my name appearing in the byline of a research paper I have never participated in, even listed as the corresponding author?

On March 19, Yang Jinkui, the first director of the Beijing Institute of Diabetes and former director of the Endocrinology Department of Beijing Tongren Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University (referred to as Beijing Tongren Hospital), told The Paper that after nearly half a year after he continued to appeal to relevant academic journals, Three of the five papers he "signed" have been withdrawn.

The person he accused - Zhou Jianbo, was a doctoral student under his guidance 13 years ago. After graduation, Zhou Jianbo became his colleague and is now the deputy director of the Endocrinology Department of Beijing Tongren Hospital. It is worth noting that one of the papers that was withdrawn after Yang Jinkui appealed was one of the papers listed in the "Outcome" column of the National Natural Science Foundation of China funded project chaired by Zhou Jianbo.

Yang Jinkui said that in addition to himself, Beijing Tongren Hospital staff Zhu Xiaorong and Lu Jing were also "signed" in the paper involved.

Yang Jinkui said that after finding out that he was "signed" for the first time half a year ago, he had filed a record with the local police, but he didn't want the students to be "too miserable". He then pinned his hopes on the investigation and handling by the hospital.

On March 20, the relevant staff of the Party Committee Office of Capital Medical University told The Paper that it was the first time they heard of the above-mentioned "signed" and "corresponding author" incidents.

Surging Technology called the Science and Technology Department of Beijing Tongren Hospital regarding the above incident. After informing the reporter of his identity, the staff of the Science and Technology Department of Beijing Tongren Hospital said that the publicity center was responsible for following up the incident and hung up the phone.

On the 21st, a staff member of the Publicity Center of Beijing Tongren Hospital told The Paper that the hospital has been involved in the investigation. However, it should be noted that the investigation has a process and takes time, and the papers involved were published many years ago. The institute attaches great importance to the integrity of scientific research, and will pay attention to any withdrawal of manuscripts.

The Paper learned that Yang Jinkui has not served as the director of the Department of Endocrinology of Beijing Tongren Hospital and the director of the Beijing Institute of Diabetes before, but he is still a doctor of Beijing Tongren Hospital and may retire this year. Zhou Jianbo is currently working normally, presiding over the work of the Department of Endocrinology as the deputy director.

On the 21st, Yang Jinkui told The Paper that recently, a hospital leader asked him how he wanted to deal with Zhou Jianbo, and said that the hospital would deal with Zhou Jianbo in the near future.

But this statement has not been confirmed by Beijing Tongren Hospital.

A related person told The Paper that if what Yang Jinkui said is true, what is incomprehensible is, as a student, what is the motivation for Zhou Jianbo to do that? However, there is currently no response from Zhou Jianbo, and The Paper will continue to pay attention.

The five papers that Yang Jinkui claimed to be "signed" spanned five years from 2015 to 2019. One of the earliest papers was published online on October 20, 2015, and it will be withdrawn on November 18, 2022, which lasted 7 years. The latest paper involved was published online on November 4, 2019, and has not yet been withdrawn.

The introduction page about Yang Jinkui on the official website of the Graduate School of Capital Medical University shows that among the 49 "important academic papers" listed by Yang Jinkui, from 2015 to 2019, Zhou Jianbo (Zhou JB or Zhou Jian-Bo) signed a total of four .

Among the 49 "important academic papers" listed by Yang Jinkui, the 25th paper was the earliest published of the 5 papers involved in the matter that Yang Jinkui claimed to be ignorant of and "signed", and was published in 2022 under Yang Jinkui's complaint Papers that have been retracted. It is worth noting that the webpage shows that the release time of the above information is November 4, 2022.

Papers that fell from the sky? The former director of the Beijing Institute of Diabetes said he was "signed" to publish a paper, saying he had "called the police"

On March 13, The Paper reported that the international academic journal Medicine had withdrawn a paper published in Volume 96, Issue 15 of the journal. Data and forgery require a publishing agreement with permission from the corresponding author.

The corresponding authors of the papers involved are Yang Jinkui and Zhou Jianbo.

On March 19, Yang Jinkui told The Paper that he did not participate in the research of the above-mentioned paper, but his name appeared in the column of the author of the paper involved, and was listed as one of the corresponding authors, which was done by Zhou Jianbo. However, the communication mailbox of "Yang Jinkui" "jinkuiyang@yeah.net" marked in the paper is not the mailbox he used. The reason why this involved paper was withdrawn was that he completed the withdrawal after repeatedly requesting the involved journal. In addition to the above-mentioned papers, he was "signed" in many other papers, and he is requesting retraction.

Email screenshot: In 2022, Yang Jinkui submitted an application for retraction to the academic journal "Hormones and Metabolism Research" via email. Photo provided by the interviewee

Yang Jinkui told The Paper that after discovering the above situation, he immediately informed his unit, Beijing Tongren Hospital, submitted a self-inspection report, and then went to the local public security bureau for filing. But he did not disclose the name of the public security bureau or police station where the filing was made.

Yang Jinkui said that at that time, the relevant staff of the Science and Technology Department of Beijing Tongren Hospital informed him that the hospital would investigate the matter.

The Journal Citation Report (JCR) published by the publishing group Thomson Reuters divides the included journals into four areas: Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 according to the subject category and the impact factor of the journal.

Yang Jinkui introduced that when he usually searched and read scientific research papers, he blocked the academic journals in the Q3 and Q4 areas. Until the first half of 2022, the Beijing Hospital Management Center requires an academic integrity check to review published articles. During the audit, he lifted the shielding settings for the academic journals in the Q3 and Q4 districts, and found that there were "a large number" of papers in the journals in the Q3 and Q4 districts that he had never seen but contained the signature of "Yang Jinkui".

Yang Jinkui told The Paper that he found through investigation that the registered mobile phone number of the email address "jinkuiyang@yeah.net" belonged to Zhou Jianbo.

In addition to being "signed" by himself, Yang Jinkui said that Zhu Xiaorong and Lu Jing, staff members of the institute, were also "signed" in related papers.

Lu Jing, Zhu Xiaorong, Yang Jinkui and others published the article "Construction and Identification of Unc13 Gene Islet β Cell Conditional Knockout Mouse Model" in the "Journal of Capital Medical University" on February 13, 2020, showing that Lu Jing and Zhu Xiaorong's The signing units are the Department of Endocrinology, Beijing Tongren Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing Key Laboratory of Diabetes Prevention and Research, and Beijing Institute of Diabetes Research.

In addition to being "signed" by himself, Yang Jinkui said that Zhu Xiaorong and Lu Jing, staff members of the hospital, were also "signed" in the above-mentioned paper.

According to the relevant webpage of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Zhu Xiaorong is listed as a project participant and a physician of Capital Medical University in the relevant scientific research projects that Zhou Jianbo is responsible for, and other participants are listed as chief technicians and deputy chief physicians.

In the related scientific research projects Yang Jinkui was in charge of, Lu Jing was listed as a project participant and a technician at Capital Medical University, and other participants were listed as attending physicians and professors.

On March 20, The Paper called Zhu Xiaorong and Lu Jing respectively, but received no effective response.

On March 20, the relevant staff of the Party Committee Office of Capital Medical University told The Paper that it was the first time they heard of the above-mentioned incident of "publishing papers under false names" and "corresponding author". But Zhou Jianbo has graduated for many years, and the jurisdiction is not in the school; Yang Jinkui is a doctoral supervisor of Beijing Tongren Hospital, and his personnel authority is not in the school, so I suggest you ask the hospital.

The Paper contacted Zhou Jianbo by phone, but as of press time, there was no response.

Former teacher and student, current colleague: co-published many papers, the paper of the National Natural Science Foundation of China was withdrawn

In an interview with The Paper, Yang Jinkui avoided talking about his relationship with Zhou Jianbo. He said: "This is not important, you should not make inferences based on our past events."

The Paper's inquiry found that Zhou Jianbo's doctoral thesis showed that his supervisor was Yang Jinkui. The title of his doctoral dissertation is "Single gene and gene interaction and genetic susceptibility to type 2 diabetes".

According to the official website of Beijing Tongren Hospital, Zhou Jianbo is a doctor of medicine, chief physician, associate professor, master tutor, and the deputy director of the Department of Endocrinology presides over the work. He graduated from Capital Medical University in 2010 and has been working in the Endocrinology Department of the hospital since August of the same year.

In the technical team, Zhou Jianbo was listed after Yang Jinkui.

Instructions for retraction posted online March 18, 2023.

The article on the above-mentioned website titled "Cultural Genes of Colleagues|Endocrinology: A Team's Dream-seeking Scientific Research Road" stated, "'Seeing the big and traveling far to meet the edge is simple'. This is the WeChat signature of endocrinologist Zhou Jianbo. This is A 37-year-old young man, studied under Director Yang Jinkui in 2007, graduated from the hospital with a Ph. Young talent project of the Hospital Authority; published 9 SCI articles as the first author."

"The prevalence of diabetes is high, the population base is large, and there are not a few researchers. How do you determine your main direction of attack? On this issue, Zhou Jianbo's mentor, Director Yang Jinkui's principle is - do not follow trends, do not research hot spots." Generally, in the application Before the fund, at least one-third of the research work has been completed, and the relevant results have been published, otherwise even if you apply, it will be the denominator.'”

The above-mentioned article said, "This year is the 15th year that Yang Jinkui has been in Tongren Hospital. From a key medical talent in Jiangsu Province to the head of endocrinology in Tongren, he has also gone through the process of changing his direction from a passionate youth to relying on reality, but The pace of progress has never stopped. No matter how many projects he has won and how many SCIs he has published, his original intention has never changed——solving problems for patients is the foundation of scientific research, and a doctor who can think is a good doctor.”

According to the official website of the Graduate School of Capital Medical University, as of November 4, 2022, among the 49 papers listed on Yang Jinkui's personal page, 10 articles have the name "Zhou Jianbo" (Zhou JB or Zhou Jian-Bo).

The Paper inquired about the relevant websites of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and found that Lu Jing and Zhou Jianbo were project participants in the Natural Science Foundation-funded project "Establishment of anthropomorphic hERG gene mutation and knockout diabetic animal models" hosted by Yang Jinkui. The approval number for this project is 81471014. The funding is 1.5 million yuan, and the research period is from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2018.

The Paper found that Zhu Xiaorong was a participant in the National Natural Science Foundation of China-funded project "Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy 16q24.3 Pathogenic Site Mapping and Function Research" hosted by Zhou Jianbo. The approval number for this project is 81670738. The funding is 600,000 yuan, and the research period is from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020.

It is worth noting that one of the papers listed in the "Outcome" of the above-mentioned National Natural Science Foundation of China funded project chaired by Zhou Jianbo is exactly one of the papers that Yang Jinkui claimed to be "signed". Under Yang Jinkui's appeal, on March 18, 2023, the paper was withdrawn.

On March 18, the international academic journal "Diabetes Therapy" (Diabetes Therapy) issued a retraction statement online, stating that the editor-in-chief had withdrawn the article "Can intensive blood pressure control really reduce the outcome of diabetic retinopathy?" published online on August 31, 2018? Evidence from Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis from Randomized Controlled Trials" (Could Intensive Blood Pressure Control Really Reduce Diabetic Retinopathy Outcomes? Evidence from Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis from Randomized Controlled Trials), because "one of the corresponding authors, Yang Jinkui was not aware of the submission of this article, and did not agree to publish it. It is not yet possible to determine who is responsible for the work reported. As a result, the editors-in-chief no longer have confidence in the results and conclusions presented."

5 papers claiming to be "signed": 4 papers have been complained and 3 papers have been withdrawn

Up to now, Yang Jinkui has claimed to have "signed" 5 papers. Three of them have been withdrawn, one is requesting to be withdrawn, and the other Chinese paper is yet to be communicated.

Yang Jinkui said that half a year ago, on September 4, 2022, he had filed a complaint with the editorial department of the academic journal "Hormone and Metabolic Research", and the editor replied in the form of an email that he basically agreed to the complaint, but the paper involved has not yet been published. Still not withdrawn.

Instructions for retraction posted online on November 18, 2022.

The paper in question is titled "Is Vitamin D Linked to Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy?" Published online November 4, 2019. Could Vitamin D be Associated with Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy? Evidence from Pooling Studies. Yang Jinkui and Zhou Jianbo are listed as corresponding authors. Among them, Yang Jinkui's email address is listed as "jinkuiyang@yeah.net".

In this regard, Yang Jinkui told The Paper that his signature was fraudulently used, and his email address and phone number were forged. "Except for the two co-first authors of this article, none of them belong to our hospital."

Yang Jinkui said that when he contacted the publisher and co-founder of the international academic journal PeerJ, Pete Binfield (Pete Binfield) by email on October 27, 2022, he proposed, "Please try to contact the first author Zhou Jianbo for the last time, and hope that he will be serious. Treat it, solve the problem within a controllable range, and take the initiative to apply to the magazine to withdraw the manuscript or at least propose to the magazine to delete the names of people who do not know the information from the article. If Zhou Jianbo still does not reply within 10 working days, we will Further action will be taken."

On November 18, 2022, the academic journal PeerJ issued a retraction statement online stating that it received a complaint from Dr. Yang Jinkui, the second author of the paper involved, claiming that the article was published without the knowledge of Dr. Yang Jinkui or Dr. Lu Jing (the fourth author) or Submitted without approval. Dr. Zhou Jianbo (first author) requested to retract the article.

The title of the paper involved is "Interaction of Wnt pathway related variants with type 2 diabetes in a Chinese Han population" (Interaction of Wnt pathway related variants with type 2 diabetes in a Chinese Han population), published online on October 20, 2015 .

Yang Jinkui stated that on September 8, 2022, he requested the international academic journal Medicine ( Medicine) withdrew related papers. After several rounds of communication, about half a year later, the publisher of the journal, Megan Larkin (Megan Larkin), informed Yang Jinkui in an email on February 22, 2023, "Based on repeated publications and PeerJ's response to this matter, It is considered that there are sufficient reasons to withdraw the manuscript."

On March 10, 2023, the "Medical" journal issued relevant retraction instructions.

On March 19, 2023, Yang Jinkui told The Paper that he had another paper in Chinese that was also "signed" and that he was "signed" as the only corresponding author, and his email address was still "jinkuiyang@yeah.net". Zhou Jianbo is also among the authors of the paper. In addition, the paper is also suspected of multiple submissions.

The title of the paper involved is "Exploring the Correlation Between Chronic Kidney Disease and Subclinical Hypothyroidism in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Case-Control Study and Dose-Effect Analysis", published in Chinese Academic Journal, Volume 36, Issue 8, 2016 Journal of Clinical and Pathological Journal.

Journal editors: Previously, the focus was on papers and research itself, and the review of signatures will be strengthened

On March 20, 2023, the editor of the academic journal "Journal of Clinical and Pathology" told The Paper that he was not aware of Yang Jinkui's "signature" incident, so the manuscript has not been withdrawn, and will follow up to verify and contact Yang Jinkui. If the situation is true, follow-up retraction work will be carried out.

The editor also said that considering the forgery and fraudulent use of mailboxes, this omission currently exists, and that such problems will be circumvented through stricter review of mailboxes in the future.

In addition, a staff member of a top international academic journal that was not involved told The Paper that the editors of the journal mainly work on the premise of trusting the author of the paper. During the review process, editors will consider a series of factors. First, check whether the submission mailbox is the email address of the organization, and then look at the submission history. For submissions that are not email addresses of institutions, other factors will be combined, such as the quality of the manuscript, or the author will be asked to provide more detailed other materials, such as original data related to the research, ethical certification documents, etc., but the focus of attention is whether the research in the paper is valid or not. question. Under normal circumstances, if there is no problem with the paper and research itself, the chance of "being signed" is relatively small. Editors generally do not confirm with all the signatures in the author list one by one, because it will take too long.

Xing Xin, a senior partner and lawyer of Hunan Jinzhou Law Firm, told The Paper that if the above-mentioned "signatured" incident is true, Zhou in the incident included Yang in the list of authors without his consent. This behavior is an academic Improper signatures in misconduct constitute "falsification in scientific and technological activities" as determined by the "Scientific and Technological Progress Law", and shall be ordered to make corrections by the unit where the scientific and technical personnel belong or the competent authority of the unit in accordance with the provisions of Article 70. The responsible executive and other directly responsible personnel shall be punished according to law; if there is any illegal income, it shall be recovered by the relevant competent department. In terms of civil liability, Zhou's behavior directly violated Yang's name right, and he should bear legal liability for infringement by using Yang's name and reputation to publish articles.

In addition, lawyer Xing Xin suggested that if the author finds that he has been signed by others without his knowledge, he should keep the evidence as soon as possible and report the dishonesty in scientific research to the following units: the unit where the reported person works, the superior department in charge of the unit where he works, or the relevant management Departments, scientific and technological plans (special projects, funds, etc.) projects, scientific and technological awards, scientific and technological talent plans, etc. management departments (units), journals or publishing units that publish papers, etc.; the articles should be withdrawn as soon as possible to control losses in a timely manner; cooperate with relevant Organs shall investigate the facts, circumstances, nature, etc. of scientific research dishonesty in strict accordance with the provisions of the "Rules for Investigation and Handling of Scientific Research Dishonesty", and wait for the unit with handling authority to make a decision on the investigation of the person under investigation according to the procedure. In addition, Yang has the right to pursue civil legal liability against Zhou for name right infringement.

Lawyer Xing Xin also said that it is not uncommon to publish articles under the name of others in academia. Under normal circumstances, the unit where the untrustworthy scientific research personnel belong should be punished according to the severity of the circumstances, such as revoking their professional titles obtained through untrustworthy scientific research, Academic awards, honors, and bonuses will be recorded in the database of serious untrustworthy behaviors in scientific research integrity, and their qualifications for participating in project declarations will be restricted within a certain period of time.

So far, Zhou Jianbo has not responded to The Paper's email and telephone interviews.

Yang Jinkui said that the leaders of Beijing Tongren Hospital recently wanted him to meet Zhou Jianbo, but he did not agree.

"This matter has a great impact on my reputation." "I don't think it is necessary to get involved with him (Zhou Jianbo), because I have done enough to make me sad, and I don't want to see him." The incident was too bad, so I still hope that the hospital can solve it internally." Yang Jinkui said.

Instructions for retraction published online March 10, 2023.

Attached is the paper published by Yang Jinkui who claimed to be "signed":

1. The paper "Interaction of Wnt pathway related variants with type 2 diabetes in a Chinese Han population" published online on the international academic journal PeerJ on October 20 , 2015 population). Signed corresponding author is Yang Jinkui; Withdrawn on November 18, 2022.

Paper link: https://peerj.com/articles/1304/

Retraction instructions link: https://peerj.com/articles/1304/retraction/

2. In 2016 , the paper "Exploring the Correlation between Chronic Kidney Disease and Subclinical Hypothyroidism in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Case-Control Study and Dose-Effect Analysis" was published online in the Chinese academic journal "Journal of Clinic and Pathology", The corresponding author is Yang Jinkui, who has not been withdrawn.

Paper link: https://lcbl.amegroups.com/article/view/4756

3. The paper "Subclinical hypothyroidism and the risk of chronic kidney disease in T2D subjects: a case-control and dose-response analysis" was published online in the international academic journal "Medicine" in April 2017. risk of chronic kidney disease in T2D subjects: A case-control and dose-response analysis), the corresponding authors are Zhou Jianbo and Yang Jinkui; withdrawn on March 10, 2023.

Link to the paper: https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/Fulltext/2017/04140/Subclinical_hypothyroidism_and_the_risk_of_chronic.16.aspx

Retraction instructions link: https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/Fulltext/2023/03100/Subclinical_hypothyroidism_and_the_risk_of_chronic.71.aspx

4. On August 31 , 2018, the paper "Can intensive blood pressure control really reduce the outcome of diabetic retinopathy?" was published online in the international academic journal "Diabetes Therapy" (Diabetes Therapy). Evidence from Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis from Randomized Controlled Trials" (Could Intensive Blood Pressure Control Really Reduce Diabetic Retinopathy Outcomes? Evidence from Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis from Randomized Controlled Trials), the corresponding authors are Zhou Jianbo and Yang Jinkui. On March 18, 2023, the paper was retracted.

Paper link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13300-018-0497-y

Retraction instructions link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13300-023-01396-3

5. On November 4 , 2019 , the paper "Is Vitamin D Associated with Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy?" was published online in the international academic journal Hormone and Metabolic Research. "Could Vitamin D be Associated with Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy? Evidence from Pooling Studies" (Could Vitamin D be Associated with Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy? Evidence from Pooling Studies), the corresponding authors are Zhou Jianbo and Yang Jinkui;

Paper link: https://www.thieme-connect.de/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/a-1010-6449