Beijing has tightened grip over coronavirus research amid the United States-China row on virus origin.

Guidelines on the publication of academic papers related to COVID-19 research confirms studies on the origin of the virus will receive extra scrutiny.

According to the notice by the School of Information Science and Technology, Fudan the state council of Beijing is taking some strict measures on the publication of academic research on the origins of the novel coronavirus. Under the new policy, all academic papers on COVID-19 would be subjected to extra screening before being submitted for publication and must be approved by central government officials.

The notification stated that the papers related to tracing the origin of the virus should be managed strictly. After the paper had been reviewed and approved by the academic committee of the college, the traceability paper submission form Annex 1) should be filled and be scanned into a PDF with the university's seal to be sent to a task force under the State Council. Only after the universities hear back from the task force can the papers be submitted to journals. The publication of papers must adhere to the bottom line of biosecurity.

The increased scrutiny appeared to be the latest effort by the Chinese government to control the narrative on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 100,000 lives and sickened 1.7 million people worldwide since it first broke out in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on symptoms, prevention and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organisation or your National Healthcare authority.