‘According to the Retraction Watch database, the 200 authors with the most retractions account for over a quarter of all 19,000 retractions. Many of the most prolific fraudsters are senior scientists at big universities or hospitals.’
https://web.archive.org/web/20230222193709/https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2023/02/22/there-is-a-worrying-amount-of-fraud-in-medical-research
#fraud #science #academia
@Frederik_Borgesius Thanks for posting. Along those lines, I highly recommend the book, "Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions" by award-winning science writer Richard F. Harris. It's no wonder so many people don't trust science--there are too many untrustworthy scientists cutting corners, and falsifying and fabricating data who are being supported by funding agencies and universities. So disheartening.
@nancylwayne Thank you for the book title! Looks depressing though.
@Frederik_Borgesius For some reason, I didn't find it depressing--I guess because I didn't find it surprising. The interviews with biomedical leadership in the U.S. was fascinating--and the call for change from these people was a good thing (although noticeable change hasn't happened yet).
@nancylwayne @Frederik_Borgesius I think the main problem is not that there are people cheating. It's that universities don't do anything about them, and it's not just when they are 'big' scientists (well, they enabled them to become directors or what not)
Having seen a couple of cases of this, my impression is that the policy of many universities is to cover their assess and not do anything about 'problematic' employees, whether they falsify data, or harass others. It doesn't make sense, because I'd rather work for a uni that said 'we made a mistake hiring X, we will not support this person or their science anymore'. But apparently that's bad PR. 😭
