A Japanese research institute says that top papers from China were cited more than any other country’s in 71 scientific fields over a recent three-year period, according to a report Sunday by Japanese broadcaster NHK.

The Japan Science and Technology Agency examined the most-cited papers published from 2015 to 2017 in 151 scientific disciplines — such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and astronomy — and found that either China or the U.S. received the highest proportion of citations for their papers in each field. According to the news report, the study also showed that China had made remarkable scholarly progress compared with the period from 1995 to 1997, when the country did not account for the most citations in any scientific field.

Despite China’s rising influence in global academia, the country continues to be afflicted by plagiarism scandals. In February, the Beijing Film Academy revoked actor Zhai Tianlin’s doctoral degree for academic misconduct. And a month later, Hunan University revoked the master’s degree of a former student after she was accused of plagiarizing another person’s earlier — and supposedly confidential — research proposal. (Image: VCG)