TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Fudan University confirmed on Tuesday that postdoctoral researcher Wang Can (王燦) plagiarized four academic papers from Taiwan, publishing them verbatim in major Chinese journals.
Wang, who also served as a master's advisor at Wuhan Polytechnic University and an adjunct researcher at Nanjing University, was dismissed from Fudan in January for severe academic misconduct. Wuhan Polytechnic University has since removed all references to Wang from its website, per CNA.
Taiwanese PhD candidate Yeh Chan (葉霑), along with two others, Chang Huan-i (張桓溢) and Wang Hsiu-ju (王秀如), revealed Sunday that they discovered in December Wang had plagiarized four of their master's theses. Most were published in top-tier Chinese academic journals.
The statement said the plagiarized papers were copied “word for word,” including footnotes, charts, and graphs, without any acknowledgment of the original authors, constituting extreme academic misconduct. Wang's repeated offenses allowed him to secure positions at both Fudan University and Wuhan Polytechnic University.
They warned Taiwanese graduate students of the possibility of "systematic" plagiarism originating from China. The individuals described this as not just a serious breach of their intellectual property, but also a deliberate act of fraud against the broader humanities and academic community.
Yeh said the four plagiarized theses spanned a wide range of academic fields, sourced from National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Normal University, National Changhua University of Education, and National Central University. The topics included Taiwanese nonfiction, Peking opera, Northern Song dynasty history, and frontier art.
Yeh suspects that Wang, whose expertise is in journalism and media, may have intentionally commissioned “ghostwritten” papers. He is believed to have hired specialists from various fields to maliciously plagiarize Taiwanese academic theses.
The four theses were publicly available through the National Central Library system, making it easy for plagiarists to obtain the texts. Furthermore, Chinese journal editors admitted that their plagiarism detection systems did not include Taiwanese theses, creating a loophole that Wang exploited.
After filing complaints with Chinese journals and Wang’s affiliated institutions, Yeh noted that preliminary responses have been largely positive.
Yeh Chan also accused Wang of harassment after reporting his misconduct, claiming that Wang sent her three emotionally manipulative emails in an attempt to influence her.
Wang initially pleaded for forgiveness, citing health issues and claiming it was a one-time offense, then later emailed Yeh to inform her of his departure from academia. In his final message, he implied his impending death and cautioned Yeh not to feel guilt.
Yeh, while not responding to Wang's emails, emphasized the need for public accountability from academic institutions and journals, and alerted Fudan to Wang's potential self-harm. Fudan confirmed Wang's safety and said the investigation was ongoing on Dec. 26.
On Tuesday, Fudan University released a statement confirming the allegations, saying that all four papers broke the university’s academic regulations. Fudan emphasized its firm commitment to upholding academic integrity and announced that it would not tolerate any form of academic misconduct.
Wang was dismissed in January in accordance with university procedures.
