Raising Science's bar against fraud

[Guest guest]

Raising Science's bar against fraud

By Kaplan, Times Staff Writer

November 29, 2006

The journal Science must intensify its screening process to weed out

fraudulent studies, an independent panel said Tuesday after investigating how

the

prestigious journal published two high-profile stem cell studies that turned

out to be bogus.

The report recommended that Science establish a system to red-flag studies

that claim major breakthroughs in high-visibility fields — such as climate

change and human health — that could influence public policy. The bar should

also be raised if the authors stand to gain financially from a publication in

Science, the panel concluded.

Kennedy, editor of Science, said the staff had already begun

discussing the criteria to identify papers that should be subject to more

stringent

review, and what that review should entail.

To increase accountability, the panel said studies with multiple authors

should spell out the role of each contributor. It also urged that all papers

include more primary data.

But no set of procedures would be able to prevent all cases of intentional

fraud, said I. Brauman, a Stanford University chemist, who led the panel.

" Reviewers and editors look for errors in logic, flawed experiments and

inconsistencies with the established literature, " he said. " None of us think

that

all fraud can be detected, but we do believe that it can be deterred. "

The panel was commissioned by Science this summer after the journal was

forced to retract two studies published in 2004 and 2005 by South Korean

researcher Hwang Woo-suk. He gained worldwide acclaim for supposedly cloning

human

embryos and using them to make embryonic stem cells.

His employer, Seoul National University, later concluded the cell lines were

faked. Hwang, who is on trial for embezzlement and violations of bioethics

laws, maintains that the discoveries were real.

*

____________________________________

karen.kaplan@...

[Guest guest]

-yea,i'glad they are going to start putting a better watch on

junkscience. i've read about this guy,thats pretty scary.-- In

, snk1955@... wrote:

>

>

> Raising Science's bar against fraud

> By Kaplan, Times Staff Writer

> November 29, 2006

>

> The journal Science must intensify its screening process to weed

out

> fraudulent studies, an independent panel said Tuesday after

investigating how the

> prestigious journal published two high-profile stem cell studies

that turned

> out to be bogus.

>

> The report recommended that Science establish a system to red-flag

studies

> that claim major breakthroughs in high-visibility fields †" such

as climate

> change and human health †" that could influence public policy.

The bar should

> also be raised if the authors stand to gain financially from a

publication in

> Science, the panel concluded.

>

> Kennedy, editor of Science, said the staff had already

begun

> discussing the criteria to identify papers that should be subject

to more stringent

> review, and what that review should entail.

>

> To increase accountability, the panel said studies with multiple

authors

> should spell out the role of each contributor. It also urged that

all papers

> include more primary data.

>

> But no set of procedures would be able to prevent all cases of

intentional

> fraud, said I. Brauman, a Stanford University chemist, who

led the panel.

>

> " Reviewers and editors look for errors in logic, flawed

experiments and

> inconsistencies with the established literature, " he said. " None

of us think that

> all fraud can be detected, but we do believe that it can be

deterred. "

>

> The panel was commissioned by Science this summer after the

journal was

> forced to retract two studies published in 2004 and 2005 by South

Korean

> researcher Hwang Woo-suk. He gained worldwide acclaim for

supposedly cloning human

> embryos and using them to make embryonic stem cells.

>

> His employer, Seoul National University, later concluded the cell

lines were

> faked. Hwang, who is on trial for embezzlement and violations of

bioethics

> laws, maintains that the discoveries were real.

>

> *

>

>

> ____________________________________

> karen.kaplan@...

>

>

>

>

>