Despite well publicized cases of scientific fraud, and less publicized examples of other misbehaviour by researchers, calls for enhanced external policing of science need to be greeted sceptically. LAST week was a stimulating one for those who believe that the scientific process needs external policing. Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, of "cold fusion" fame, lost a court case in Italy in which they had attempted to sue a journalist who linked their work too closely for their liking to with the concept of fraud (see page 369). A Brazilian virologist was successfully sued to the tune of $50,000 for plagiarism of unpublished research (see page 371). And in the United Kingdom the British Medical Journal and The Lancet, acting in a combined initiative, called for the establishment of a central agency to tackle misconduct in research.
展开▼
