The news of “Sanya Education Bureau Director Du Jinggang Reported for Plagiarism in Thesis” made it to the trending list on November 15. Personnel from Southwest University confirmed that they have taken action on this matter. It was found that Du Jinggang’s master’s thesis from Southwest University had a plagiarism rate of nearly 40%.
According to Jímù News, recently, a Sanya resident named Lv Yi reported to the media that Du Jinggang, the director of the Sanya Education Bureau, had a plagiarism rate of over 40% in his graduate thesis, raising suspicions of academic misconduct.
On the afternoon of November 13, personnel from Southwest University confirmed that they are investigating the case.
Lv Yi provided a master’s thesis from Southwest University signed by Du Jinggang, with a defense date of May 21, 2006. Lv Yi’s submission of a check report from CNKI showed that the thesis, consisting of over 50,000 words, had a total plagiarism rate of 42.5%, with a non-referenced content copy rate of 39.4%.
Public records show that Du Jinggang, born in Le Dong, Hainan in May 1980, joined the Communist Party of China in June 2003, holds a postgraduate degree, a doctoral degree in education, and currently serves as the Party Secretary and Director of the Sanya Education Bureau.
According to Hainan History Network, the “2017 Yazhou Yearbook” introduced the resume of Du Jinggang, the current director of the Sanya Education Bureau, who obtained a doctoral degree in education from the School of Education at Southwest University. The schools attended, graduation time, and specialization as mentioned in Du Jinggang’s resume align with the thesis under scrutiny.
Lv Yi submitted the aforementioned report materials to the Academic Committee of Southwest University.
In an email provided by Lv Yi, on October 23, the office staff of the Academic Committee of the Development Planning and Discipline Construction Department at Southwest University acknowledged the report.
Upon questioning the possibility of a homonymous thesis author, Lv Yi called the mentioned personnel after receiving a reply email, who confirmed that there was only one student named Du Jinggang among that year’s graduates from the same discipline at Southwest University.
Lv Yi mentioned that her husband, who was formerly the Vice Principal of Sanya Middle School affiliated with Southwest University, started working at Chongqing Southwest University Basic Education Investment Co., Ltd. on September 1, 2020. During his tenure, Lv Yi’s husband discovered irregular enrollment practices at Sanya Middle School of Southwest University, and reported it to Southwest University and the Sanya Education Bureau. However, in October 2022, Lv Yi’s husband’s employment contract was terminated.
Subsequently, Lv Yi and her husband uncovered the academic plagiarism in Du Jinggang’s thesis and sent a formal report to the Ministry of Education and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
On the afternoon of November 13, regarding the issue of Du Jinggang’s graduate thesis, the office staff of the Academic Affairs Division of the Development Planning and Discipline Construction Department at Southwest University stated that they had accepted the case and would complete the investigation within six months.
Workers from the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Team of the Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision stationed at the Sanya Education Bureau mentioned that they have not yet been informed about this situation.
In the afternoon of November 14, staff at the Sanya Discipline Inspection Commission’s office stated that the parties involved must visit the petition office in person with relevant documents to inquire about the progress and that they do not accept inquiries over the phone.
This topic has sparked discussions and doubts among netizens: with a plagiarism rate exceeding 40%, the high pass rate of theses at Southwest University raises questions.