Latest news with #OUP
News18
3 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Oxford University Press To Discontinue Publication Of China-Sponsored Journal
Last Updated: The research conducted through FSR has been regularly featured by OUP since 2023. Oxford University Press (OUP) has decided to discontinue the publication of an academic journal sponsored by China's Ministry of Justice after 2025. Forensic Sciences Research (FSR), in an official statement, revealed that the move came considering concerns regarding unethical DNA collection practices cited in some of its published papers. OUP has confirmed that it will no longer publish the quarterly journal on its platform. The research conducted through FSR has been regularly featured by OUP since 2023. The FSR works under China's Academy of Forensic Science, which describes it as 'the only English quarterly journal in the field of forensic science in China that focuses on forensic medicine." According to reports, serious questions have been raised about how several papers published in FSR collected data from Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China. Critics suggest that it is highly likely the genetic data was obtained without proper consent from the individuals involved. Moreover, it is suspected that this data may have been gathered to enhance state surveillance of minority populations in the country. An official statement by FSR confirmed the development, stating, 'Forensic Sciences Research will no longer be published by Oxford University Press (OUP) after the 2025 volume. The last issue published by OUP will be Volume 10, Issue 4." Going forward, the journal will be published by KeAi, Elsevier's co-publishing partner in China. Meanwhile, OUP has declined to provide a specific explanation for the termination of its contract with FSR. So far, OUP has already withdrawn at least two papers involving the study of DNA samples from Chinese minority groups. According to The Guardian, one of the studies, published in 2020, collected DNA samples from 264 Uyghur individuals. Although the paper claims the data was collected with participants' consent, critics have challenged this assertion. Notably, the lead author of the study is affiliated with China's state security apparatus. While OUP issued an 'expression of concern" regarding the article in 2024, it did not retract it. The Chinese government is already under global scrutiny for its treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minority communities. Concerns include allegations of human rights abuses, mass incarceration, forced labour, sexual assault, and intense state surveillance. view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Oxford University Press halts publication of China-sponsored journal after years of outrage
The Oxford University Press (OUP) will stop publishing a Chinese government-sponsored academic journal following years of outrage over the publication allegedly breaching ethic rules over DNA collection from minorities. A statement on the website of the Forensic Sciences Research (FSR) read that the journal will longer be published by OUP after this year. The last issue of the quarterly journal to be published will be Volume 10, Issue 4, it said. The Chinese justice ministry-sponsored journal has come under increasing scrutiny for publishing studies that allegedly did not meet ethical standards about DNA collection from Uyghur and other ethnic minority groups in China 's northwestern territory of Xinjiang. Critics of the studies published in the journal have argued that the subjects may not have consented for their DNA to be used in the research. The controversial journal has been published since 2023 and financially supported by the Academy of Forensic Science, which is run by China's ministry of justice. The academy describes the journal as 'the only English quarterly journal in the field of forensic science in China that focuses on forensic medicine', according to The Guardian. The OUP has retracted at least two papers published in the journal on DNA samples from Chinese minorities due to ethical concerns. A study published before OUP acquired the journal, analysed DNA samples collected from 264 Uyghur individuals. The paper claims that participants consented for the research – a claim refuted by critics. The press in 2024 reportedly published an 'expression of concern' about the article, but did not retract the paper. Another study of particular concern was published in 2023 involved 50 'bloodstain' samples taken from Xibe ethnic minority individuals, according to Oxford's student-run newspaper Cherwell. The papers were first flagged by Yves Moreau, an engineering professor at KU Leuven in Belgium, who spent years investigating how Chinese researchers collect genetic data from vulnerable populations. 'Starting next year, Forensic Sciences Research will be published by KeAi, Elsevier's distinguished co-publishing partner in China. This transition is rooted in thoughtful reflection and pragmatic necessity, driven in part by a shared ambition to grow, evolve, and further enhance the journal's global impact,' FSR said. Beijing has been accused of committing 'crimes against humanity" against the Uyghurs and other ethnic minority groups over the past decade through alleged widespread abuses, including mass incarceration, forced labour, torture, sexual assault and intensified surveillance. The Xi Jinping administration has routinely denied the allegations of genocide made by the US and other Western nations as 'the lie of the century'. The UN says China has detained more than a million minority Muslims, mostly Uyghurs, since a dramatic escalation in counterterrorism measures in 2017. Beijing initially denied the existence of any Uyghur detention centres before defending them as 're-education centres'. The UK, US and Australia were among 15 countries that issued a joint statement at the UN against alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Tibet.
India Today
3 days ago
- Science
- India Today
Oxford University Press to end publication of China-sponsored journal
Oxford University Press (OUP) has announced it will stop publishing a China-sponsored scientific journal after growing tensions over the ethics of studies involving DNA samples from ethnic minorities. The journal, Forensic Sciences Research (FSR), is linked to China's Ministry of Justice through the Academy of Forensic a statement on the FSR website, it was revealed that OUP will end its partnership with the journal after 2025. "Forensic Sciences Research will no longer be published by Oxford University Press (OUP) after the 2025 volume. The last issue published by OUP will be Volume 10, Issue 4," the statement focusses on forensic medicine and is the only English-language journal of its kind in China. It has been under scrutiny due to several research papers that used genetic data from Uyghurs and other minority communities in China. Human rights activists and researchers raised concerns that the DNA used in the studies may have been collected without proper consent, since many of the studies were carried out by Chinese police agencies or institutions tied to the STUDIES ON UYGHURS SPARK TENSIONSOne study from 2020 used blood samples from 264 Uyghur individuals in rmqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang region. The study claimed that participants gave consent and their data was anonymised. However, the lead author was linked to the Xinjiang Police College. In 2024, OUP added an "expression of concern" to the article but did not retract has already retracted two other FSR papers that were based on DNA data collected by Chinese authorities, citing ethical concerns. In China, much of the forensic science work is done under police supervision. OUP started publishing FSR in 2023. According to a publishing agreement, OUP had rights to sell advertising space and collect revenues from the journal. Despite ending the relationship, OUP has not explained in detail why it made the FSR editorial team described the end of their partnership with OUP as part of a 'moment of transformation' and said the journal's future remains bright. The journal will now be published by KeAi, a joint venture between Dutch publisher Elsevier and a Chinese company.- EndsTrending Reel
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Science
- The Guardian
Oxford University Press to stop publishing China-sponsored science journal
Oxford University Press (OUP) will no longer publish a controversial academic journal sponsored by China's Ministry of Justice after years of concerns that several papers in the publication did not meet ethical standards about DNA collection. A statement published on the website of Forensic Sciences Research (FSR) states that OUP will stop publishing the quarterly journal after this year. FSR is a journal that comes from China's Academy of Forensic Science, an agency that sits under the Ministry of Justice. The academy describes FSR as 'the only English quarterly journal in the field of forensic science in China that focuses on forensic medicine'. It has been published by OUP since 2023. Several papers published in FSR have attracted criticism because they study genetic data from Uyghurs and other heavily surveilled ethnic minorities in China. Critics say subjects in the studies may not have freely consented to their DNA samples being used in the research and that the studies could help to enhance the mass surveillance of those populations. One study, published in 2020, analysed blood samples from 264 Uyghurs in Ürümqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region in north-west China. The paper states that the people giving the samples consented to the research and that their data was anonymised. The lead author on the study is affiliated with China's state security apparatus via the Xinjiang Police College, which provided a research grant. In 2024, OUP published an 'expression of concern' about the article, responding to questions about whether or not Uyghurs in Xinjiang could freely refuse to participate in a study conducted by representatives of China's state security. The paper has not been retracted. Two other papers published in FSR based on DNA samples from Chinese populations have been retracted by OUP since 2023 because of ethical concerns. In both cases, several of the researchers came from Chinese police authorities. Forensic science research is often carried out under the auspices of police authorities, but in China, where there the state security apparatus is not subject to checks and balances, there is concern this kind of research may not meet international ethical standards. Uyghurs in Xinjiang are subject to intense surveillance by state authorities and between 2016 and 2018 about a million of them are estimated to have been detained in what China calls 'vocational training centres'. The UN said China's policies in Xinjiang could constitute crimes against humanity. There are also reports of Xinjiang authorities collecting DNA samples from millions of Uyghurs under the guise of health checks, but which Uyghurs and human rights groups have said are compulsory and designed to enhance surveillance. Yves Moreau, a professor of engineering at the University of Leuven in Belgium who focuses on DNA analysis, first raised concerns about OUP's relationship with FSR and about several studies. He said he was grateful for OUP's decision but that the brief public statement on the matter 'fails to address the important issues at stake'. A statement published on FSR's website, which is hosted by OUP, said: 'Forensic Sciences Research will no longer be published by Oxford University Press (OUP) after the 2025 volume. The last issue published by OUP will be Volume 10, Issue 4.' OUP acquired the journal in 2023. Under the terms of the publishing agreement between OUP and the Academy of Forensic Sciences, a copy of which was seen by the Guardian, the deal gave OUP the right to solicit paid advertisers in the pages of the journal. The agreement also gives OUP the right to collect any revenues received by the Academy of Forensic Sciences related to the journal. OUP declined to elaborate on why it was ending the relationship with FSR. In recent years there has been increasing scrutiny about the ethical standards of genetic research papers from China. Last year, a genetics journal from a leading scientific publisher retracted 18 papers from China due to concerns about human rights. The concerns centre on whether or not vulnerable populations in China can freely refuse to participate, especially when researchers come from organisations, such as the police, affiliated with state security. There are also concerns that this kind of forensic DNA sampling could produce research that enhances the mass surveillance of those populations. Moreau said: 'Forensic genetics is an area where specific caution is needed because this is the research that powers police DNA identification and databases. While DNA identification is a valuable technique to help solve crimes, it can raise privacy and ethical issues.' He added that the mass surveillance of minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet made China a particularly challenging country to enforce international norms about ethical research and human rights. FSR's launch in 2016 was accompanied by an editorial that stated it is sponsored by an affiliate of China's Ministry of Justice. Duarte Nuno Vieira, the co-editor-in-chief of FSR, has previously denied financial support from China's Ministry of Justice had any impact on the journal's editorial policies. Nuno Vieira did not respond to a request for comment. But in an article published on Tuesday, the FSR editors wrote that the journal was at 'a moment of transformation, firmly rooted in its past successes, and yet reaching with confident hands towards an even more luminous future'. The publication of the journal will be taken over by KeAi, a China-based joint venture run by the Dutch scientific publisher Elsevier and a Chinese partner. China's Ministry of Justice and the Academy of Forensic Sciences did not respond to a request for comment.
The Hindu
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Remembering Guru Dutt's connect with Madras on his centenary
Today, July 9, 2025, is when Guru Dutt, had he lived wisely and well, would have completed a hundred. And I could not let pass this opportunity to connect my favourite filmmaker with my favourite city. Much of what I write in this article is sourced from Nasreen Munni Kabir's Guru Dutt, a Life in Cinema (OUP, 1996). Though born in Bangalore and a Saraswat by community, it was Calcutta that Guru Dutt most closely associated with. It featured in many of his films, as also did Bombay where he spent much of his working life. But very interestingly, one film alone had a strong Madras connect in terms of its location, though in the movie this is not spelt out explicitly. It is today considered Guru Dutt's finest film – Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), which was also the greatest commercial failure among his creations. In fact it so hurt him that he never directed another film, believing he brought bad luck. He produced films thereafter and in some such as Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam his touches are very evident, but the credit was always given to others. Kaagaz Ke Phool (Paper Flowers) deals with the rise and fall of a celebrated film director and is set in the glory days of cinema studios. Much of its backdrop, though not all, is provided by Vauhini Studios, Madras, though strangely, its name does not feature in the casting credits. The very opening sequence, where an aged Sinha Sahab, the director, totters into the gates, is shot at the studio. And so are many other scenes, where you can see studio floors, cranes, arc lights, sheds, and a long driveway where props, scenery and often equipment are being transported. It shows us what was always referred to as Vijaya Studios, as it was in its heyday. The final scenes of Kaagaz Ke Phool too show the studios at their best and as the principal character rushes out of the gates, we get a fleeting glimpse of Vadapalani in the 1950s – not a soul anywhere and just coconut trees. Incidentally, the most iconic scene of Kaagaz Ke Phool – the song Waqt Ne Kiya, with dust particles caught in rays of light even as Geeta Dutt's (Mrs Guru Dutt in real life) voice sings in the background, was not shot here. That record goes to Modern Studios, Bombay. For the record, Vauhini Studios was the facility of Vijaya Productions. Though they began separately, they were tightly intertwined by the late 1940s. The films that were produced by the Nagi Reddy-Chakrapani controlled units were always known as Vijaya Vauhini creations, and the vast precinct went by the name of Vijaya Gardens. This was also the home of that very popular children's magazine – Chandamama, in all its languages. A few decades later, Vijaya-Vauhini would become South Asia's largest film production facility. And then, hit by changing trends in cinema, it faded, leaving behind real estate that became hospital, hotel, and much else. Guru Dutt would have relished that, for he focused on dark themes. The absence of Vauhini in the casting credits, and the name Central Studios, Bombay had me puzzled. And that had me rushing to young Shiva Reddy Chirla, who immediately asked his granduncle Viswanatha Reddy, whose father B Nagi Reddy owned Vijaya Vauhini. Confirmation was immediate. And I had one more confirmation – in his unique introduction to the cast and crew of Bommai (1964), the brilliant veena maestro and filmmaker S Balachander shows us a shot of Vijaya Vauhini and it is identical to what Guru Dutt depicts!
