N-Heterocyclic Carbenes » Food for Thought

Plagiarism and Fraud in Science – 2nd Act or more?

Vinh — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:06:35 +0000

The recent years have seen some very extreme fraud cases, most of which were related to bio-related research. For example, in 2006 South Korean stem cell scientist Dr Hwang Woosuk was caught having fabricated results for his two Science papers published in 2004 and 2005. While some people (e.g. Norwegian Jon Sudbø) have been stripped of their doctorate degree for plagiarism and fraud, it is indeed surprising that he is even able to continue to work in some research institute. This sad fraud series continued very recently with a case involving Dr Kim Tae-kook, another South Korean scientist and ironically “self-acclaimed admirer” of Dr Hwang. Kim published his fraudulent results describing nanoparticles that can be used to probe molecular behavior inside cells ultimately allowing for the identification of novel drug targets (Science 2005). Another fabricated paper was published in Nature Chemical Biology in July 2006.
Disturbingly, Chemistry also has its share of frauds. Former Dr Guido Zadel is still infamous for his irreproducible “enantioselective synthesis in a magnetic field”, which was published in 1994 and subsequently retracted from Angewandte Chemie. Maybe it was his “aura” that led to high ee. More recently, James J. LaClair stirred the organic chemical community with his singled authored and thus “heroic” communication on the full synthesis of hexacyclinol in Angewandte Chemie 2006. John A. Porco Jr. and Scott D. Rychnovsky subsequently proved him and his (fabricated?) NMR data wrong, and yet LaClair has not retracted his paper. At least Dalibor Sames retracted some of his irreproducible papers from the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS, 5 papers!) and Organic Letters (1 paper) co-authored by his former PhD student Sezen, whom he accused of providing fabricated data. Maybe, they are still arguing about “which brand of coffee beans to use to make a good expresso”.
However, the most recent and the worse fraud case in chemistry so far has just been reported in early 2008 and investigations are still on-going. Chiranjeevi, a professor of chemistry at Sri Venkateswara University (SVU), Tirupati was found guilty of having plagiarized and fabricated results in >70 papers (!!!), some of which appeared in Talanta, Food Chemistry and Analytica Chimica Acta. All these developments are extremely worrying, but I am sure there are more of these desperate guys out there, who act without any integrity and honesty. Let’s hope that true science will find these culprits.

Spam in the name of Science

Vinh — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 15:29:58 +0000

We all know annoying spam emails trying to sell viagra, software or other things. However in academia we have to face another type of spam, which is intended to be an application. The following is just one example that can probably be found in inboxes of many scientists throughout the world. Most people will just delete it instantly. So, to all potential students, postdocs, RAs, etc etc…stop this stupidity and put at least some effort in your applications.

Sir,
I am M.Sc., chemistry graduate working as a Research officer in XYZ Ltd, R&D Centre, XYZ , XYZ . I have theree years and eight months research experience in the field of API and custom synthesis. I would like to do Ph.D. under your guidance. I attached my profile . If possible I kindly request you to give me. An Oppourtunity. I am waiting for your reply.

Thanking You

Plagiarism and Fraud in Science

Vinh — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:19:20 +0000

With the developement and improvement of technologies and the internet, research has in general become more facile. Numerous online journals and databases help the scientist to stay “up-tp-date” in his area. In chemistry, improvements of analytical methodologies allow for a faster and more accurate indentification of unknown and new compounds. However, the above mentioned technology drive has also some negative aspects, which should not be forgotten. Plagiarism is easier as well! According to Wikipedia, plagiarism is the practice of claiming, or implying, original authorship of (or incorporating material from) someone else’s written or creative work, in whole or in part, into one’s own without adequate acknowledgement. Obviously, the term “creative work” usually includes scientific ideas as well.
Students often plagiarize by submitting reports that have been copied from internet sources. Research students claim results from their seniors or vice versa as their own, while their supervisors often overloaded with administrative work, may not be always aware of “who did what” in a big research group. In most cases, plagiarism can be avoided by proper referencing. On the other hand, there are also numerous cases of professors and scientists being accused of plagiarism by stealing/copying ideas from colleagues or even faking results. The latter represents an especially sad case, since professors are usually regarded as “honourable and creative minds”. The pressure to publish will never justify such inexcusable behaviour.
Both professors, scientists and students should all take responsibility and avoid plagiarism. The statement “Don’t get caught!” is totally inappropiate to educate our students. The true take-home message is the opposite of the Nike’s slogan: “Just don’t do it”

More on this topic can be found in Horace Freeland Judson’s “The Great Betrayal: Fraud in Science”.