7 - Fraud in Science

Summary

Fraud is a problem in science, as it is in many human activities. Instances of fraud are relatively rare, but when they happen they tend to garner a lot of attention. Does fraud undermine the sanctity of science – and by the way who ever said science should be sanctified?

This essay is based on an article originally published in the George Street Journal, 16(15), in 1991.

Recent highly publicized cases of “scientific fraud” have elicited much excited comment. We hear cries for watchdogs and oversight committees. We read perturbed editorials speaking of a scientific Watergate. But let's put the situation in perspective and avoid creating something worse than the disease – a cure.

In science, as elsewhere, lying, cheating, stealing, and fraud are distinctly unpleasant. Because scientists are human, one must anticipate that in their daily as well as their scientific activities, they will occasionally stray. What is surprising is our surprise. I recall my mother pointing out to me, a hopeful teenage scientist, an embarrassing situation in which scientists were involved. My smart-aleck response was, “So what? Everybody does it.” “But,” she responded, “these are scientists.”

Well, the fact is that scientists do it, too. Under pressure for promotions, grants and the necessity to publish, we can be “reasonably assured” that corners are cut, work is sometimes sloppy and, occasionally, I suppose, there is deliberate fraud.