A QINGHUA University professor was recently fired by the university authorities over accusations of plagiarism and providing false information in his resume, local Chinese-language media reports said.

The Ministry of Education confirmed the professor's dismissal yesterday (Mar 27). But the university has refused to comment on the issue.

Liu Hui, assistant to the dean of the medical school at Qinghua University, claimed in his resume to be the author of a research essay published in the Virology Journal. The essay which carried the signature of LiuH., was actually written by another researcher with the same last name and initial, Liu Hong.

The plagiarism accusations against Professor Liu were first raised by a medical researcher named Fang Zhouzi, who is famous for his efforts to fight against plagiarism and fake research in academia. Fang discovered that the essay was focused on a kind of virus protein of AIDS, while Liu was a surgeon specializing in digestive system, which are not overlapping disciplines.

Fang said in his personal blog that Liu Hong was a researcher at the Edward M.Johnson Lab at the Mount. Sinai Medical School in New York City. Liu Hong is still doing research at the same laboratory.

After the accusations were raised, Liu disclaimed authorship of the essay in question. He told reporters in Beijing that it was due to a mistake in the university's library system. He said the link to the essay was provided by the library's electronic index, which had mixed up the two people due to the same initial and last name.

The library has denied Liu's version.

Liu claimed in his resume that he has published more than 100 academic research essays in both domestic and foreign science journals, among which 17 were important. Liu also said he had been the head of the surgery research center at the medical school of New York University between 1999 and 2004. In fact, Liu did work at the Richard J. Knight's laboratory but without not holding any administrative position.

Liu, 47, was hired as a professor by Qinghua's medical school in June 2004.

Editor: Wing

Faked paper:

South Korean researcher Hwang Woo-suk's two faked papers on human embryonic stem cells