Online sleuths have discovered what they suspect is a paper mill that has produced more than 400 scientific papers with potentially fabricated images. Some journals are now investigating the papers.
Elisabeth Bik, a microbiologist–turned–research integrity expert based in San Francisco, along with other “forensic detectives,” identified the potentially problematic papers, which they think came from a single source. They say the papers contain western blot images—used in molecular biology to visualize the presence of proteins—that contain remarkably similar background patterns and unusually neat bands lacking smears, stains, or dots, which often appear in such images.
“We think that these western blots are not real,” says Bik, who wrote about the case on her blog on 21 February. “Most of them have a very similar layout so we realized these are all coming from the same stable.”
More detail on this thread.
We have “fake news”, and now we have “fake science”.
Could it be said that the ruling class lives in a fake world of their own making?
Been saying this for several years now. Science (as practiced by a growing number of charlatans) is going to have a huge credibility problem in the very near future. (Bigger than it is now).
The so called gatekeepers of scientific truth and the scientific method are doing a great disservice to themselves and indeed to everyone.
But…but…S.T.E.M.
So does this mean that all the so called climate scientists that are on their knees with their lips firmly attached to the gov’s ass are really telling the truth. What’s wrong with that picture?
Yes and wait until someone finally starts looking at government grant agencies. Now there’s corruption and greed on a grand scale.
It would be funny if it was the same person running around facilities with Munchausen. But, like snowflakes, all tests and corresponding graphics vary day to day even within the same person. They are unique. So these immages are driving a narative. I’d like to read the studies and figure out why the immages are compelling across an array of medical practice. I suspect Rheumatology.
Science, like any other institution, thrives or fails depending on adherence to its basic values. For science, these include following scientific methods and opening ones results & data to others [who have some interest in refuting the results]. Stresses include politically directed research, careerism [note the “one paper can make a career” and results kept secret.
But note that is is other scientists who have been exposing this.
That’s quite different from the bias of those who don’t trust science at all:
Ted Cruz tried to mock AOC’s scientific knowledge – it didn’t end well
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/28/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-ted-cruz-coronavirus
And she STILL didn’t answer his question. Funny, that.
If I were to question your math skills by asking “what is 2 + 2 ?” , would you just answer?
The question was no more than contempt, and she answered it by mentioning her microbiology award.
Unless Cruz doesn’t know what microbiology is.
It seemed odd to me that someone with AOC’s level of intelligence would have an award for microbiology from MIT…so I looked it up. The award was for second place in a high school science fair.
https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/stories/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-has-asteroid-named-after-her
“The asteroid named for Ocasio-Cortez, officially dubbed 23238 Ocasio-Cortez, was discovered Nov. 20, 2000, by the Lincoln Observatory Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory. Rachel Evans, an electrical engineer at Lincoln Laboratory was one of the scientists who worked on LINEAR at the time 23238 was discovered. She and her boss, Grant Stokes, had naming rights to every asteroid LINEAR discovered.
The two decided that the best way to name the asteroids was to name them after students who won science and engineering fairs.
Ocasio-Cortez was one such student. Her high school microbiology project won second place at Intel’s International Science and Engineering Fair in 2007, and that’s why her name was up for consideration. Evans submitted her name to the IAU, and in August 2007, 23238 became 23238 Ocasio-Cortez.”
I guess in the world of the left…that makes you a scientific genius. Ha!
By the way dizzy…2+2=4. I guess that makes me a mathemetician. What award do I get? 🙂
// Her high school microbiology project won second place at Intel’s International Science and Engineering Fair in 2007, and that’s why her name was up for consideration.
I guess in the world of the left…that makes you a scientific genius. Ha! //
No. But it does make the question “What is a Y chromosome?” absurd. And thanks for checking.
By the way dizzy…2+2=4. I guess that makes me a mathemetician. What award do I get?
// I’ll call the city. Perhaps they could name a pothole after you. No award for spelling though. //
The fault lies with the whole culture of scientific research.
It starts with the need for money (“no bucks, no Buck Rogers”). One will have a hard time to get funding unless one can demonstrate that one is productive. The sole metric of the productivity is the number of publications one writes. One can’t get tenure unless one can show that one is not only productive and can bring in funding.
It comes as no surprise that paper mills exist. There are a lot of qualified people competing for a few faculty positions. Sometimes the number of one’s publications will determined whether one gets hired, regardless of one’s other credentials or experience. Some people likely buy publications from those outfits in order to polish up their CVs.
It’s more general than science.
Jeff Schmidt & Brian Martin have analyzed this:
This is from a scientist, former editor of Physics Today:
Disciplined Minds: A Critical Look At Salaried Professionals and the soul-battering System That Shapes Their Lives
Jeff Schmidt Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 2001.
An audio intro:
http://disciplinedminds.tripod.com/radio1.mp3
I listened to some of that many years ago. I thought it was rubbish. Those who let themselves be affected by that system have failed to comprehend Harry Truman’s famous statement: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
They thought they were to do science. Instead they were expected to be non-political subordinate experts.
At the time, most projects were military funded, with adroit profs euphemizing them as pure science.
So many did get out. Your remark reminds me of Weinstein’s lawyer: asked if she had ever been harassed, she proclaimed that she would “never put herself in that situation”.
“One common factor, however, is that authors of these papers all seem to be based at hospitals in China , Bik notes.”
Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!
Can you trust anybody, anything, any product from China?
Seriously. These are the people that unleashed COVID-2019 Coronavirus on their own people, probably by simple idiocy and screw-ups.
The coronavirus was unleashed to cripple the US economy ahead of the 2020 election and help Beijing put Bernie or Mike in the White House, and President Trump in jail to conveniently “commit suicide.”
A vaccine a year away? Bernie and Mike got the vaccine already, guaranteed—on condition that their first act as president is to summarily execute Donald Trump.
Rest assured the best minds in China have been working on it for a long time—understanding that they and everybody they cared about would be turned into spare parts if they didn’t keep their goddamn yaps shut. Only published Chinese research is fake. The classified research into bioweapons is real.
Beer Review. It’s more honest.
I’ll drink to that. I like adding to the number of pub libations I have to my credit.
Anybody who does business in China knows that dishonesty is the default position.
While I was finishing my last degree, many of the Chinese grad students “assisted” their fellow countrymen with their work, if you get my meaning. They didn’t cheat–they were “working as a team”.
same thing when I was working on my BSc in ’75 to ’85
the TA was astute enough to wait for them to take their seats in the exam room aaaaaaaand
busted them up.
I resented their subterfuge ever since and refused to help any of them after that.