Abstract: The high incidence of paper trading (PT) among young scholars severely disrupts the academic ecosystem. In terms of the governance of PT, there are challenges such as significant gaps in laws and regulations and the weak governance capacity of digital platforms over PT in universities. PT undermines the value of legally protected interests and poses significant harm by its infringement to the subject matter of the legal act. Thus, timely intervention by criminal law is necessary. Therefore, strengthening the system of criminal governance is essential to address the governance dilemma of PT from three aspects. Firstly, the crime of academic dishonesty is established with cross-sector collaboration to clarify the criminal nature of PT. Secondly, the regulatory responsibilities of platforms is defined with hierarchical coordination. Thirdly, third-party regulatory bodies are introduced.