Tens of thousands of bogus research papers are being published in journals in an international scandal that is worsening every year, scientists have warned. Medical research is being compromised, drug development hindered and promising academic research jeopardised thanks to a global wave of sham science that is sweeping laboratories and universities.
Last year the annual number of papers retracted by research journals topped 10,000 for the first time. Most analysts believe the figure is only the tip of an iceberg of scientific fraud.
“The situation has become appalling,” said Professor Dorothy Bishop of Oxford University. “The level of publishing of fraudulent papers is creating serious problems for science. In many fields it is becoming difficult to build up a cumulative approach to a subject, because we lack a solid foundation of trustworthy findings. And it’s getting worse and worse.”
The startling rise in the publication of sham science papers has its roots in China, where young doctors and scientists seeking promotion were required to have published scientific […]
You see, Americans love Science. They are fascinated by Science as a process of discovery. That said, Americans have learned a powerful and hard lesson in what occurs when you combine Science with the profit motive. This article illustrates the perverse incentives generated by Commercialized Science, where careers and fortunes are to be made. Sadly, these careers and fortunes can be made at the expense of the health and safety of the public. As fun reading as the article is, it doesn’t even touch upon the replication problems in Science, not only the social sciences but the hard sciences as well. Part of this lesson Americans have learned is that Scientists will provide policy makers with recommendations based on partial or incorrect data that when implemented have the force of law. I find it fascinating to watch these same scientists back track or distance themselves from their own recommendations when called to account – “I was only following the data” they say but the public was forced to follow the law. Nor does this article reference the recently disclosed scandal involving cheating on the US Medical Boards. All signs point to a culture in rapid decline. Thank God for websites like Retraction Watch