China's leading online academic database announces three-time free checking

(ECNS) -- China's leading online academic database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), announced on Sunday that it will provide three free dissertation checking services for each postgraduate, double from the previous 1.5 times per capita.

It also plans to provide annual paid services with unlimited checking times for institutions designated by the university, to offer dissertation checking services for postgraduates as a formal channel.

CNKI said the price of personal users' checking is set at 1.5 yuan ($0.22) per thousand words, no higher than the price of similar major products in the market.

CNKI is one of the largest Chinese academic information gateway websites. It came under scrutiny in April when China’s top research group, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said it would suspend its use of CNKI due to the high subscription fees. China’s market regulator said on May 13 that it had launched an antitrust investigation into CNKI.

CNKI was initiated by Tsinghua University in 1999 with the goal of sharing knowledge resources. Over two decades, it has become the most dominant academic database in China and has made substantial profits from its services.