Deleted pages suggest China is cracking down on academic papers pertaining to COVID-19 

In order to control the narrative surrounding the novel coronavirus, China has reportedly cracked down on publication of academic research about the origins of the novel coronavirus, reported The Guardian quoting documents published online by Chinese universities appear to show.

Reports suggest that two websites published papers and removed pages referring to new policy required for the academic papers dealing with COVID-19.

Research on the origins of the virus is particularly sensitive and subject to checks by government officials, the notices posted on the websites of Fudan University and the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) said, according to The Guardian report.

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China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) appears to have published and then deleted new requirements that academic papers dealing with the origins of the virus be approved by China’s ministry of science and technology before publication.

The university’s academic committee was expected to first go through the research “with an emphasis on checking the accuracy of the thesis, as well as whether it is suitable for publication,” the regulation said.

“When the checks have been completed, the school should report to the Ministry of Science and Technology [MOST], and it should only be published after it has [also] been checked by MOST,” it said.

Despite its name, the geosciences university announced elsewhere on its website that it was carrying out coronavirus research.