Oxford University Press (OUP) will cease the publication of the Forensic Sciences Research (FSR) journal following concerns about ethical standards, including the DNA collection of China’s Uyghur population in Xinjiang region.
According to a statement published on the journal’s website, FSR will no longer be published by OUP after the 2025 volume.
The journal is owned by China’s Academy of Forensic Science, which is accountable to China’s 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”. OUP took over as publisher of FSR in 2023.
Writing in response to the end of the relationship with OUP, Duarte Nuno Veira, one of the editors of FSR, said: “The future of Forensic Sciences Research is unwritten –but its foundations are strong, its community vibrant, and its vision clear.”
Several papers in FSR attracted concerns over ethical considerations, as they analysed genetic data from heavily surveilled ethnic minorities in China, particularly Uyghurs. The papers were initially spotted by Yves Moreau, a Professor of Engineering at KU Leuven, a Belgian university, who focused on investigating Chinese researchers’ compliance with ethical standards in studies of genetic data from vulnerable groups.
A 2022 study used blood samples from 264 Uyghurs in Ürümqi, Xinjiang region in north-west China. According to the study, blood samples were collected “with written informed consent” and “subsequently anonymized”.
The Guardian notes 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”.
In late 2023 OUP published an “expression of concern” over an article in FSR published in September 2020. Two later articles in the journal raised “further concerns” in January 2024. According to OUP, this prompted an investigation regarding the three articles. OUP retracted the two papers published in FSR due to ethical concerns. Several researchers in each case came from Chinese police authorities.
OUP was approached for comment.
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