Credit Science Magazine
# 6912
Over the past few years the topic of scientists behaving badly has come up with increasing frequency. About a year ago, in Science at the Crossroads, I wrote about the dangerous erosion of the public’s trust in science.
Last March In Dysfunctional Science we saw a pair of editorials published in Infection and Immunity (IAI), authored by Dr. Ferric C. Fang, Editor in Chief, Infection and Immunity and Dr. Arturo Casadevall, Editor in Chief, mBio on the challenges facing researchers.
Copies of these thought provoking editorials can be found online at:
http://iai.asm.org/content/80/3/891.full
and
During a presentation last March before a committee of the National Academy of Sciences, Fang & Casadevall warned that number of retraction notices for scientific journals has increased more than 10-fold over the last decade, while the number of journals articles published has only increased by 44%.
And just a few weeks ago, in mBio: Gender Analysis Of Scientific Misconduct, we looked at an analysis written by written Joan W. Bennett, Ferric C. Fang, and Arturo Casadevall, that examined the rise of Scientific misconduct - which includes fabrication, falsification or plagiarism – over the past decade.
This is such an important topic that I’m delighted to report that tomorrow afternoon (Thursday, Feb 7th) at 3pm EST, Science Live will be holding a live chat with both Dr. Casadevall and Dr. Fang.
Details below, so mark your calendars for what I’m sure will be a lively discussion.
As much as they love research, many scientists lament the state of their profession these days. A mix of budgetary and other pressures are spawning stress and fear in the community. Bad scientific behavior is not uncommon. Recently, Science described the efforts of two microbiologists, Ferric Fang and Arturo Casadevall, who study how well the enterprise is functioning and how common misconduct appears to be. Is the push to publish ruining scientific discovery? Is science really self-correcting? Does peer review work? Are labs the right size? Does the quest for grants create a climate that encourages misconduct?
Join us for a live chat at 3 p.m. EST on Thursday, 7 February, on this page with Fang and Casadevall. Leave your own in the comment box below before the chat starts. The full text of the chat will be archived on this page.
