A Slap on the Face of “Science”

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A Slap on the Face of “Science”

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• Sciences et techniques

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• Publié par: edyxolec
• Nombre de lectures: 101
• Langue: English

Extrait

Scientific Ethics

1(1): 3-7, 2006

COMMENTARY

http://im1.biz/se

© Truthfinding Cyberpress (http://im1.biz/tfcp)

SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT

A Slap on the Face of “Science”

Shi V. Liu

Scientific Ethics

Apex, NC 27502, USA

E-mail: [e-mail]

(Received 2006-01-09; accepted 2006-01-23; published online 2006-02-05*)

HIGHLIGHT

Great breakthroughs in stem cell research published in the very “top” scientific journal have now dropped

to the very bottom of scientific trash – totally discounted as fabrication products of some outright frauds.

This high-profile event slapped very hard on the face of “science”. But will this hard hit awake

Science

?

ABSTRACT

Once heralded as a great breakthrough that would not happen for decades is now known as the boldest

scientific fraud in memory. The revelation of the Korean stem cell research scandal slaps hard on the face

of “science”. It has not only caused a great set back for the stem cell and cloning researches but also

destroyed significantly the public trust to scientists. As the main porters for scientific communication,

scientific journals should learn a great lesson from this and other “top” scandals. How scientific journals

handle the scandal and what real measures they take will become critical in regaining the public confidence

on science and preventing future scandals. However, how good the scientific journals are doing these?

KEY WORDS

Hwang scandal, Stem cell, Science publication, Misconduct, Retraction, Scientific justice

Instead of being celebrated as one of the greatest

breakthrough in science for 2005, it became the most

“spectacular” research scandal in modern scientific

history.

The revelation shocked the world: a

“landmark” paper in

Science

(308: 1777-1783, 2005),

a report once hailed as a great “breakthrough” that

would not happen for decades (

Science

308: 1097-

1097, 2005), was actually a fabrication (Interim

Report on Professor Hwang Woo-Suk, Investigation

Committee, Seoul National University, released 23

Dec. 2005), a “boldest scientific frauds in memory”

(

Science

311:23-24, 2005).

The revelation of the scandal is like an O. J.

Simpson trial in science – dynamically unfolded in

real-time while the probing was and is still going on.

I could not remember any thing more dramatic than

this in my over twenty years of scientific research

life. Even the announcement of the completion of the

human genome sequence had not attracted so much

attention.

The impact of this scandal is really

widespread. Even non-scientists know this now

because it has been printed and broadcasted in the

popular media in at least all the major human

languages.

The impact is also truly global. I

actually did not miss any new development even

while I was on a cross-ocean international travel

because up-to-date reports on this scandal can be

found on many free-access websites.

This scandal has firmed my decision to

finishing my wittings on two related articles. One

is entitled “What drives scientists craze and cause

them to misconduct?” (

Scientific Ethics

1

,

i

n

press, 2006). The other is “Why “top” journals

are often so unlucky in infecting top scandals”

(

Scientific Ethics

1, in press, 2006). There two

papers mainly discuss the pre-scandal events, i.e.,

either the making of scandals by “scientists” or

the publishing of scandal-contained papers by