Fraud in the Lab: The High Stakes of Scientific Research

by Nicolas Chevassus-Au-Louis, Nicholas Elliott (Translator)

From manipulated results and fake data to retouched illustrations and plagiarism, cases of scientific fraud have skyrocketed in the past two decades. In a damning exposé, Nicolas Chevassus-au-Louis details the circumstances enabling the decline in scientific standards and highlights efforts to curtail future misconduct.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

209 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 13, 2019

Reviews

[Peter Tillman]

WSJ review: https://www.wsj.com/articles/fraud-in... (paywalled)
Excerpt:
“The scientific literature is deeply tainted,” Mr. Chevassus-au-Louis concludes, but he points to progress as well. For example, the California-based PubPeer Foundation has established an online platform for post-publication peer review. Some journals now require scientists to make their data and computer code publicly available so that others can try to reproduce the findings or catch errors. Researchers can also register their hypotheses on a website sponsored by the National Institutes of Health before starting their study, reducing the chance of hypothesis-shifting later on.

Mr. Chevassus-au-Louis endorses an ethos of transparency (e.g., sharing raw data) and bemoans the pressure to publish, publish, publish, preferring the mantra: “Publish less, publish better.” To “regain its quality,” he writes, “science must slow down.” Even so, no time should be lost confronting the kinds of misconduct outlined in “Fraud in the Lab” and reaffirming the ideals of scientific inquiry.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good look at a misunderstood field. It's clear that the processes of the scientific endeavor have become massively distorted in pursuit of personal gain over scientific knowledge. This isn't the fault of individual researchers (though many exploit it), rather it's the natural consequences of the incredibly ruinous infrastructure of science, from university promotions that require good impact factors to journals not really doing the background work to make sure the articles they accept are legit, to the funding agencies' demands for irrelevant metrics. If the system is set up to encourage unethical behavior, then those who act unethically will advance beyond the ethical people, who will then feel compelled to copy their "betters" if they want to advance, or even to hold onto their jobs. Clearly, something is rotten in science.

[The Inquisitive Biologist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fraud in the Lab is a shocking and eye-opening exposé of the dark side of science. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2020...

[J. Boo]

Excerpt here: https://quillette.com/2019/12/21/the-...

[Gemma Milne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in French in 2016 and now translated into English, this is a great romp through the world of science fraud, academic culture and the inherent issues in the research world. For anyone who closely follows academic culture topics, not much in here will surprise you, but the examples are great and the way it's pulled together linking everything up is brilliant. Written more for an academic / insider audience, but super readable and the author is hilariously catty - worth the read for his snide..!

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be super mediocre and not as exciting as it could’ve been. it spent way too much time recounting specific stories of fraud and not going into the issues it causes. I’m fine with talking about all these specific stories because they are interesting but it looses my interest when the story is recounted in two pages and then quickly moves on to the next one. There are so many stories they all kind of blend together. I also didn’t really learn anything new from this and found a lot of the ideas to be pretty common sense and too straight forward.

[Albert Meier · Rating 5 out of 5]

A look at the ways in which fraudulent results get published, the reasons why researchers engage in fraud, the efforts that are being taken to combat this problem and a criticism of why these efforts are not sufficient. The author is French and you can see a closer familiarity with the institutions and cases of that country, but this does not hinder his ability to present the international situation.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable review of all the things that scientists can do wrongly, badly, and unethically in the pursuit of knowledge.

[Saudat Alishayeva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must-read not only for researchers but for any individual that seeks honesty in spreading/receiving accurate information.

[Mills College Library]

507.2 C5278 2019

[Matthew Vandermeulen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an academic researcher, I believe this is an essential book for anyone in research to read. It is thought provoking and brings to light some of the key flaws that occur in the science community, research, and publishing. For example, the pressure to "publish, publish, publish", and the methods of how we as scientists are judged as being "successful" do not always create a healthy atmosphere for generating the best or most creative science.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating accounting. This provides a good summary of the kinds of people who are willing to falsify data: "

"The desperate, whose fear of failure overcame a personal code of conduct; the perfectionist, for whom any failure was a catastrophe; the ethically challenged, who succumbed to temptation; the grandiose, who believed that his or her superior judgement did not require verification; the sociopath, who was totally absent a conscience (fortunately, rare); the non-professional support staff, who were unconstrained by the ethics of science, unaware of the scientific consequences of their actions, and/or tempted by financial rewards"

The only occasions I've witnessed it, have resulted from people with combination of the ethically challenged and the grandiose, and a sprinkling of the lack of conscience.