75% of Retracted Scientific Studies Are Due To Fraud

This is something that continues to happen more frequently in scientific circles as this study shows that as much as 75% of retracted studies are because of falsification, fabrication, unethical conduct, and plagiarism - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120529181145.htm


A growing concern with fraud and misconduct in published drug studies has led researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Pharmacoeconomic Research to investigate the extent and reasons for retractions in the research.

"We were surprised to find the proportion of retractions due to scientific misconduct in the drug literature is higher than in general biomedical literature," said Simon Pickard, associate professor of pharmacy practice and senior author of a study published in the journal Pharmacotherapy.

Nearly three-quarters of the retracted drug studies were attributed to scientific misconduct, he said, "which includes data falsification or fabrication, questionable veracity, unethical author conduct, or plagiarism. While these studies comprise a small percentage of the overall literature, health care professionals may rely on this evidence to make treatment recommendations."

These studies can affect the treatment of thousands of patients, since scientific publications are often printed months in advance. There is an average lag in time of 39 months between the original publication and a retraction notice, Pickard said.

"Once a health care professional changes treatment options, it's not easy to reverse," said Jennifer Samp, a fellow in Pickard's research group and lead author of the study. "Staying current with new findings in scientific literature is a priority for health care practitioners -- especially pharmacists -- and it is important for them to know when a study has been retracted, especially those with manipulated data."

Little attention was paid to the implications of scientific publication retractions until a 1998 review documented 235 instances from 1966 to 1997; 37 percent of the retractions were due to scientific misconduct.

Since the 1998 study, more interest has been given to retracted studies. In 2009, the Committee on Publication Ethics released the first set of guidelines to editors on issuing retractions.

...and in this study - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101115210944.htm


"US scientists are significantly more likely to publish fake research than scientists from elsewhere, finds a trawl of officially withdrawn (retracted) studies, published online in the Journal of Medical Ethics."

A total of 788 fake studies between 2000 and 2010.

...and here - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090528203745.htm


"In surveys that asked about the behaviour of colleagues, 14% knew someone who had fabricated, falsified or altered data, and up to 72% knew someone who had committed other questionable research practices.

In both kinds of surveys, misconduct was reported most frequently by medical and pharmacological researchers. This suggests that either the latter are more open and honest in their answers, or that frauds and bias are more frequent in their fields. The latter interpretation would support growing fears that industrial sponsorship is severely distorting scientific evidence to promote commercial treatments and drugs."

The overall indication appears to be that the majority of falsified research takes place in the areas of medical and pharmaceutical research. These are also the two most heavily financed research sectors where the livelihood of researchers, professors, and in some cases universities are at stake. This has been a growing problem since the late 1960s when the majority of research began to be financed by pharmaceutical companies.

With recent cuts in research across the medical and pharmaceutical fields, there is a great concern that competitiveness for financial dollars will result in even greater levels of fraud and falsification as many people compete for more limited funding.

This demonstrates that there is very little concern for how these studies can affect the lives of patients who receive care based on fraudulent studies.