scientific fraud

Meet some of the people featured in the December 2020 issue of The Scientist.

Illinois-based Surgisphere Corporation had a brief moment in the limelight this year following its infamous study of hydroxychloroquine. But the impact of the company’s deception reverberated across world.

The high-profile retractions of two COVID-19 studies stunned the scientific community earlier this year and prompted calls for reviews of how science is conducted, published, and acted upon. The warning signs had been there all along.

BethAnn McLaughlin will step away from the organization after confirming allegations that she posed as @Sciencing_Bi, a fabricated queer indigenous researcher and victim of sexual harassment.

The company behind a now-discredited study on hydroxychloroquine also posted a report that has been cited by Latin American governments recommending ivermectin as a possible coronavirus treatment. Clinicians there say the effects have been extremely damaging.

Criticism of the paper first surfaced in 1994, and its author was accused of scientific misconduct.

A second investigation by the school concludes that David Latchman, also the head of Birkbeck, University of London, was not involved in the image manipulation found in papers he coauthored.

Cell biologist Irina Stancheva was dismissed in June 2017 after a scientific misconduct investigation.

Authors of rescinded papers see a 10 percent to 20 percent decline in citation rates for their other publications. 

Several initiatives aim to improve research integrity in the country, but recent high-profile cases of misconduct highlight a lingering problem.

A lawsuit claims that Duke University and biologist Erin Potts-Kant used bad data in projects funded by dozens of government grants.

An institutional investigation has found evidence of image manipulation in two studies coauthored by Bharat Aggarwal.

Nature retracts a study six years after an investigation found that the protein structures it reported were fabricated.

A year’s worth of noteworthy quotes

A look at this year’s most memorable retractions

Warning signs that scandal might be brewing in your lab
 

May 2015's selection of notable quotes

A former Iowa State University researcher faces up to 10 years in prison for faking data involving a study of an HIV vaccine.

September 2014's selection of notable quotes