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'Paper master' shown to be a liar

china.org.cn / chinagate.cn by Lin Liyao, September 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

Since the year of 2011, the name of Dong Peng has been frequently seen in academic journals and industrial periodicals. Although no one knows who he is, his name has become renowned as an expert in various fields, including logistics, industrial economy, aesthetic theory, ancient literature, psychology, film and drama.

In May of this year, a magazine interviewed Dong Peng and published his picture above the article. [Photo/Chengdu Commercial Daily]

In May of this year, a magazine interviewed Dong Peng and published his picture above the article. [Photo/Chengdu Commercial Daily]

However, the "paper master" was recently shown to be a liar, after he admitted that all of his more than 800 professional papers were plagiarized and that his title was fake. The so-called doctor actually has never studied in any university.

Finding the real Dong Peng

In his hundreds of professional papers, Dong boasted that he was senior executive and strategic consultant of several international companies. He claimed to have graduated from Northwest University with a major in automation.

In fact, Dong recently confessed during an interview with Chengdu Commercial Daily that he was not a manager but a staff member at a rubber factory in Meizhou, Guangdong Province, and left the company in 2015. In addition, other positions were all fabricated by himself.

While explaining why he had lied so much, Dong said, "At first, I just wanted to gain popularity. I paid for the publication of most of my articles at the beginning; in two years, I became famous and no longer needed to pay." But Dong also confirmed that he gained little from his papers since most academic journals never pay their contributors.

Disclosing fake papers

In July 2015, Xu Jianhua, a 72-year-old professor of Shanghai Maritime University, published an article in China Ship Survey magazine. However, in January of this year, he saw another paper very similar to his published in other two magazines under the name of Dong Peng.

Xu was very angry and began an investigation into the so-called expert. Xu found that Dong had published more than 800 articles, some of which he claimed to have written by himself, while others were claimed to have been written in collaboration with others.

Thanks to his many plagiarized articles, Dong made a name for himself and became a productive researcher. Some magazines and newspapers even asked Dong for interviews. A journalist working with the Modern Logistics Newspaper said, "We have interviewed Dong for several times through phone and e-mail, but we have never met him and never doubted his title."

Hard to be punished

After his investigation, Professor Xu reported Dong's copyright infringement to media outlets and informed some of the magazines and newspapers who had published Dong's work about his plagiarism.

However, Dong is unlikely to be punished. "If Dong was a teacher or a researcher working in universities or institutions, he would be fired due to copyright infringement," said Xu. "But since currently he doesn't work for any company, no one has right to punish him."

Xu also said that as there are more than 5,000 journals and periodicals that have published Dong's work during the past five years, he lacks the time and energy to inform every single one.

On Sept. 7, Dong wrote a letter of apology to Professor Xu, saying, "You are 36 years older than me, and I thank you for your teachings. I promise to turn a new leaf."