A Crime Far Worse Than Fraud Threatens Scientific Progress

We are all aware of the impending attempts by legislative and oversight bodies to insert themselves into the conduct and practice of scientific research. Recent incidents have accelerated the movement toward formation of a variety of institutional review mechanisms to deal with the problem of scientific fraud. But I believe that there is a much greater threat to the quest for truth than the one-in-a-million scientist who fabricates data. Because the overwhelming majority of outright deceptions

| 3 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
3:00
Share

We are all aware of the impending attempts by legislative and oversight bodies to insert themselves into the conduct and practice of scientific research. Recent incidents have accelerated the movement toward formation of a variety of institutional review mechanisms to deal with the problem of scientific fraud.

But I believe that there is a much greater threat to the quest for truth than the one-in-a-million scientist who fabricates data. Because the overwhelming majority of outright deceptions - or even honest but incorrect interpretations - is quickly revealed, the community of scientists is never led astray for long by scientific fraud.

While fraud is of concern to us all, it is not an invidious threat to the quest for the nature of reality that is at the core of our profession. Truly invidious - and a far greater danger to scientific enterprise - is the prevailing closed-minded stodginess prompted by suspicions ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Candace Pert

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo
New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

Sino

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Explore a Concise Guide to Optimizing Viral Transduction

A Visual Guide to Lentiviral Gene Delivery

Takara Bio
Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio