Zhai's doctorate revoked after investigation

Beijing Film Academy has revoked the doctoral degree of actor Zhai Tianlin after he was found to have committed academic misconduct, the academy announced on Tuesday.

As stated by the academy, the investigation team found in a dissertation Zhai published while pursuing his PhD in the academy, Zhai used the viewpoints of other experts but didn't give credit, which showed Zhai didn't act normatively and precisely in his academic work. Zhai's tutor, Chen Yi, also showed negligence on academic ethics and norms and failed to guide and review the dissertation in a responsible manner, the academy said.

The academy decided to revoke Zhai's doctorate and Chen's PhD tutorial qualifications. Zhai and Chen have accepted the decision. Other related issues are still being investigated, it said.

Zhai, 32, obtained his doctorate from the academy in 2018 and became a postdoctoral candidate at Peking University in January. He was placed under investigation by the two universities after being accused of plagiarism in early February.

After the investigation, Peking University removed him from the postdoctoral program at its Guanghua School of Management, suspended his supervisor from recruiting postdoctoral candidates and strongly criticized the teachers who were responsible for interviewing Zhai.

A ministry spokeswoman also said on Friday the Ministry of Education has zero tolerance for academic misconduct and has ordered relevant universities and education authorities to investigate Zhai's plagiarism allegations, as well as hold other people who allowed this to happen to account.