The Treatment of Scientific Misconduct in the Biomedical Literature

Mary Scheetz, Ph.D.

As biomedical investigators throughout the world pursue their research, the literature has become the all important medium for exchange of information. Perhaps as a result of the growing sense of urgency to publish, there have been well-documented cases in which scientific reports have been found to be inaccurate or misleading. Sometimes the inaccuracies are the result of oversight or simple sloppiness, while at other times, inaccurate reports are the result of willful actions, now termed scientific misconduct. This study analyzed whether there was any change in the reporting of the topic of scientific misconduct in the biomedical literature as reported in MEDLINE from 1966 - 2000. The criteria used to evaluate the treatment of scientific misconduct in the published literature included citation frequency, content areas, and publication formats. Content areas were measured to identify the treatment of a particular subject matter over time, and publication formats were analyzed to assess the representation of information over time. Analysis revealed an increase in attention to and discussion of the topic of scientific misconduct in the biomedical literature. The study findings suggest that the treatment of scientific misconduct will continue to grow and more scholarly publications will be represented in the biomedical literature.