Scientific fraud is becoming a major concern in the medical research community. A recent study published in PNAS analyzed over 5 million scientific articles and found evidence of networks of editors conspiring to publish low-quality research, as well as “brokers” who connect fraudulent authors to these editor networks.
The study’s lead author, Reese Richardson, warned that this kind of fraud can destroy trust in science, bias systematic and meta-analysis, delay treatment, and hinder new research. Richardson stated that fake or poor-quality research is often caught by journal editors or peer reviewers, but groups of bad actors working together are increasingly making it to publication.
Fraudulent studies typically contain fabricated data, unverified results, plagiarized research, or manipulated images. In some cases, this can have serious consequences, such as delaying effective treatments or wasting billions of dollars in research funding.
To combat corruption in science, researchers and publishing groups are working to create new methods for identifying and retracting fraudulent research. However, experts emphasize that the root cause of the problem lies in how scientific research is valued, with many scientists feeling pressured to publish in order to secure their jobs and funding.
Richardson suggested ditching quantitative metrics of research assessment, such as counting publications and citations, as a solution to this issue. By doing so, scientists can focus on producing high-quality research that contributes to the advancement of medical science.
Source: https://www.dw.com/en/fraudulent-research-is-destroying-trust-in-science/a-73533918