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When professors need to author research papers to get promoted, many turn to Ghost Writers, writes Gillian Wong for Associated Press.

Strong demand for ghost-written academic papers in the lead-up to university graduation and revelations that people pay to have scholarly articles published are worrying critics who fear the billion-yen industry is making it harder than ever to evaluate graduates' abilities.

The perception of academic autonomy and freedom in China has been distorted with many cases of misconduct reported. It is claimed that misuse of academic powers for illegitimate benefits such as money, honour, and even sex have occurred, yet only a small fraction has ever been officially verified or acted upon.

Disgruntled parents in Zhejiang have complained to provincial education authorities over a policy that gave 19 children of government officials and teachers special treatment in college entrance examinations. These Practices are often linked to abuse of power and corruption, showed the vulnerability of the education system.

In one hour, and for about 38 dollars, you can get a false university degree in China, but the enforcement of punishment is making it ever more difficult to use such fraud to find a job or get into a foreign university. The measures introduced by China have curbed fraud and many fake degrees are now detected through authentication procedures; however, some genuine diplomas have been awarded to bogus students.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has ordered the auditing of university heads from 2007. Analysts say the move is aimed at curbing corruption in universities after several embezzlement cases were uncovered in state universities recently. In 2006, former president of Tianjin University was removed from his position of deputy to the National People's Congress for his role in the school's loss of 12.8 million U.S. dollars.