Editorials
Research misconduct: Britain's failure to act
BMJ 2000; 321 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.321.7275.1485 (Published 16 December 2000) Cite this as: BMJ 2000;321:1485Act or risk losing public confidence in research
- Michael Farthing, editor, Gut, and chairman, Committee on Publication Ethics,
- Richard Horton, editor, Lancet,
- Richard Smith, editor
- BMJ
News p 1487
More than a year ago the good and the great of British medicine assembled in Edinburgh and agreed that the time had come to act decisively on research misconduct.1-3 Unfortunately, nothing visible has happened. Yet the so far largely submerged problem of research misconduct is surfacing like a decomposing corpse.4 If the leaders in medicine do not act they risk losing public confidence in medical research.
Fraud in research has a long and dishonourable history, but the problem came firmly onto the agenda in Britain in the early 1980s.5 One consequence was a report from the Royal College of Physicians of London …