IN September, the Committee on Publication Ethics reported that it had
detected 60 cases of scientific fraud in the past two years. This led the
editors of the British Medical Journal and The Lancet to call
for for a national body with powers to investigate fraud and impose sanctions
along the lines of those in the US and Denmark.
Science minister Lord Sainsbury emphasised to me that government-funded
scientific research “must be concluded ethically and with integrity”. He added
that the Depertment of Health, as a funder of research, looks to the medical
research community and the professional bodies employing…
