Scientific Misconduct And The Nature Of Science:
[Via Scientific Blogging - The world's best scientists. The internet's smartest readers]
I just finished reading an interesting book review by physicist Martin Blume in a recent issue of Nature. Blume was reviewing Eugenie Samuel Reich’s provocative book “Plastic Fantastic: How the Biggest Fraud in Physics Shook the Scientific World,” and the whole thing prompted some further thoughts about scientific misconduct, objectivity, and the peer review system that is crucial to the advancement of science.
Reich’s book is apparently very well researched (I take Blume’s word for it, since material physics is not my field), but she draws exactly the wrong conclusion from the case study she so thoroughly investigated.
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The point can not be made often enough. Fraud is not kept out of science because we are more noble than other people.
Peer review helps make sure that what is published maintains a certain level of rigor but can do nothing against manufactured fraud.It is the repeatability that becomes crucial to prevent most outright fraud.
If the fraudulent research is obscure enough that no one every tries to use or repeat it, nothing is really hurt. If it is important, than others will try ti use it and discover the fraud,
Of course, it might take come time to discover the fraud but if it is important. it will be discovered.
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