Scientific misconduct is worryingly prevalent in the UK, shows BMJ survey

Dear Editors,

Well connected, despotic, University Professors or corrupted Senior Researchers will cover their misconduct well.

They are certainly not going to inform junior members of their Departments on research frauds or illegal funding!

So by questioning staff we just miss how extensive the problem is.

Only proper legal investigation can uncover all the facts.

At least this is what we found out in Greece, where European Community research funds have been used to buy Ferrari cars or build mountain villas. [3]

In Greece we also find extensive inbreeding, nepotism, plagiarism and “guest author” publishing in Universities, especially Medical Schools. [1][2][4]

References

[1] Lack of meritocracy exacerbates research fraud: the example of Greece.

http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e179?tab=responses

[2] Greek academia is plagued by inbreeding, nepotism, conflicts of interest, partisan politics, Professor Synolakis letter to Nature:

http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091105/full/news.2009.1042.html

[3] Medical research in Greece has no strategy, no formal standards, no evaluation procedures, no transparency, no evaluation of research staff, no ranking body, but instead heavy bureaucracy pervades, Stavros Saripanidis’ Rapid Responses in:

http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d7284?tab=responses

[4] Extensive inbreeding, nepotism, plagiarism and "guest author" publishing in Greek University Medical Schools, Stavros Saripanidis’ Rapid Response in:

http://www.bmj.com/content/339/bmj.b3783?tab=responses