Fraud In Science

My previous post discussed a July 2005 Washington Post article about fraud in science. But this isn't a recent problem. It's been going on for years. An article in a 1981 issue of Nature (303:361-362) reported:

"the dozen or so proven cases of falsification that have cropped up in the past five years have occurred in some of the world's most distinguished research institutions--Cornell, Harvard, Sloan-Kettering, Yale and so on--and have been blamed on people who are acknowledged by their colleagues to have been intellectually outstanding. The pressure to publish may explain much dull literature, but cannot of itself account for fraud."

Most of the fraud is taking place in the life sciences, which is particularly disturbing because this includes medical research on which lives depend. In 2001, in just the biomedical field, 127 new misconduct cases were brought before the Office of Research Integrity, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Why is fraud in scientific research such a growing problem? Dr. Jerry Bergman writes in a 2004 article in the scientific journal "TJ" (Volume 18, Issue 3, page 108):

"The reasons for this include money, tenure, promotions, grant renewal concerns, professional rivalry, and the need to prove one's theories and ideas. Another factor is the rejection of Christianity and moral absolutes which has resulted in the collapse of the moral foundation that is critical in controlling fraud. Fraud is especially a problem in the fields attempting to support Darwinism, and in this field it tends to take a long time to root out."