Education Minister Chiang Wei-ling has resigned over a research paper scandal. That’s after an international journal retracted five articles that had his name on them, on allegations of scholarly misconduct.
The allegations arose following a decision by the Journal of Vibration and Control to retract 60 articles written by Peter Chen, who was formerly an associate professor at National Pingtung University of Education. The journal alleged that those articles had been published using bogus peer reviews.
The education minister’s name appeared as a co-author on five of the 60 retracted articles. But at a press conference on Sunday, the minister said that he had only met Chen briefly on two occasions.
The minister said that the five articles were jointly authored by himself and Peter Chen's twin brother, C.W. Chen, who later added Peter Chen’s name as a co-author without notifying the minister.
The education minister said on Monday that he had absolutely no idea about Peter Chen’s alleged bogus peer reviews. He called on the education ministry and the ministry of science and technology to conduct an investigation.
“Looking back on how this has developed, I’ve thought a lot about it, especially last night, and I decided to step down as education minister in order to protect my reputation and to allow for a more thorough investigation to be conducted," said Jiang. "It’s also to enable [the ministry’s] work to continue unhindered, that I have decided to step down from my post as education minister.
Premier Jiang Yi-huah has already approved Chiang’s resignation, and President Ma Ying-jeou has said that he respects Chiang’s decision.