China continues to be one of the world’s largest producers of academic re-search papers contributing massively to national and international journals annually. To maintain such a position, the government put up policies and practices to ensure that actors and all universities engage in research activities. However, this initiative which was initially aimed at motivating and encouraging research participation seems to be pressuring researchers. Hence, this study employed a qualitative approach to extensively review existing literature to determine the current research trends and the consequences of the pressure to engage in research activities among Chinese top-rated universities. Using a Skinner’s operant conditioning theory, the study found out that China’s research activities have significantly improved, however, it may be to a cost of research misconduct as well as negligence of other academic activities of equal importance. This study recommends a new approach that promotes and adds to the current ethical research activities and brings about a paradigm shift from quantity to quality research publications for professional evaluation purposes.
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