A ten-fold rise in retractions of scientific (in particular biomedical) papers over the past decade reflects a massive increase in competition for scarce funding and jobs, according to the New York Times this week. The increase is attributable, the article says, to both misconduct and scientific mistakes arising from an increasingly dysfunctional endeavor that is comparable to “a pyramid scheme.” Counterpunch points out that much falsified research, including high-profile papers on Seroquel and Neurontin, go unretracted even when authors have gone to prison or studies have turned out to be ghostwritten by industry operatives.
Related Items:
Research efficiency: Perverse incentives (Nature)
Why Are These Fraudulent Papers Unretracted? (Counterpunch)