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It took more then 10 months, but today the scientists who blew the whistle on a paper in Science about the dangers of microplastics for fish have been vindicated. An expert group at Sweden's Central Ethical Review Board (CEPN) has concluded that the paper's authors, Oona Lönnstedt and Peter Eklöv of Uppsala University (UU), committed "scientific dishonesty" and says that Science should retract the paper, which appeared in June 2016.
Science published an editorial expression of concern [DOI: 10.1126/science.aah6990] [DX]—which signals that a paper has come under suspicion—on 3 December 2016, and deputy editor Andrew Sugden says a retraction statement is now in preparation. (Science's news department, which works independently of the journal's editorial side, published a feature about the case in March.)
The report comes as a "huge relief," says UU's Josefin Sundin, one of seven researchers in five countries who claimed the paper contained fabricated data shortly after it came out.
Related: Study Demonstrates Harm to Fish Caused by Microplastics (oops)
(Score: 2, Interesting) by shrewdsheep on Monday May 01 2017, @08:14AM
I am in academia and do have publication pressure, so I think your err... criticism is directed at people like myself. Unfortunately, there are enough stories of scientific misconduct to make your point stick (but incompetence is much more prevalent still). What I can state though is that there is also an intrinsic will to collaborate and share knowledge. OTOH there is temptation of shortcuts, and there are the aggressive types who just try to play the game. All in all, misconduct will always be there (and has always been there) but if the incentives do not evolve into obscene pressure the majority of research is sound (for some meaning of sound). How can I state this? Look at where we are: scientific understanding has evolved a lot, the well-publicized errors have been corrected, and 90% of research (in terms of papers more in terms of actual experiments) is ignored and forgotten eventually (so that they do not partake in the fame game).