Research Fraud

SCIENCE IS ALWAYS in motion and falsification is an inseparable and even constituent part of science (as Karl Raimund Popper and others pointed out). Research fraud can be divided into at least four major groups: 1) false titles or non-existing publications; 2) plagiarism; 3) forged material, invented experiments and non-existing or exaggerated research results; and 4) pseudo-science.

False titles or nonexistent publications are probably the most basic case of research fraud, whereby the results could be harmful for society, but are usually not for science itself. Forged diplomas of real universities, or awards from fake educational entities are increasingly commonplace. Anybody with access to the internet and a laser printer can create reasonable facsimiles of awards and diplomas.

Some forgers believe careers may be accelerated by such gimmicks. The more dangerous cases involve medical doctors actually operating on real-life patients without any proper training to do so. It should be pointed out that such cases usually only have success outside the scientific community, when the title or degree is not checked against the actual knowledge of the person bearing (or boasting) the title.

Nonexistent publications in a professional background list may open the door to a scientific career, but will sooner or later end abruptly when somebody searches for the publication or a new paper is required from the swindler. Examples range from a student-employee at Harvard University forging letters of recommendation, to a scientist at Stanford University quoting from his own articles, which were never written or published.

Plagiarism is probably the most common case of research fraud. Since the invention of the internet, some students write their school or college papers with the “help” of publications in the public domain. Plagiarism in its crude form, that is the total copy of a paper or article and just changing the name of the author, is easily detected. More sophisticated cases like partial use from several sources, or the paraphrasing of one source are more problematic. The line between plagiarism and cumulative scientific writing is always thin, but the borderline is crossed when sources are not quoted at all or are downplayed in significance. Plagiarism is not just a recent phenomenon, but modern information technology has facilitated new forms of plagiarism; conversely, the same technology allows for easier and quicker detection of plagiarism.

Forged research materials, invented experiments, and nonexistent or exaggerated research results are usually the most important threat to science itself, as other (innocent) scientists may come to wrong conclusions following up false leads based on faked results. The danger is usually most acute when the forger holds a high position within the scientific community. These forgeries are sometimes hard to detect as the replication of fraudulent experiments may involve big laboratory facilities and major funding. Sometimes minor changes in small numbers may signify success or failure of an experiment, so one replication at another laboratory may not be enough to prove fraud beyond a reasonable doubt.

Examples of this kind of research fraud include Ptolemy, who “invented” measurements he never did, and Isaac Newton, who brightened up some of his results to improve its prognostic efficiency. John Dalton's atomic theory was fundamental to nuclear science, yet some of the experiments he described seem to be singularities, if they ever happened at all the way he claimed. In 1912, fossils found in Piltdown made Great Britain the birthplace of humanity, unfortunately all were forgeries.

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