From Fortune:

1. Allegations of research fakery at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have brought attention to image manipulation in research papers. The British blogger, 32-year-old Sholto David, found dubious images in over 30 papers published by four Dana-Farber scientists and requested retractions. His findings have sharpened attention on scientific integrity and research misconduct.

2. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is seeking retractions and corrections on scientific papers after allegations of image manipulations. The allegations arose after a British blogger flagged problems. The focus has turned to scientific sleuths that use technology to detect image manipulation in the science community. Student journalists have corroborated the story, which emerged after a recent plagiarism investigation involving former Harvard president Claudine Gay.

3. Sholto David, a scientific sleuth, found suspicious images from over 30 published papers by Dana-Farber scientists. The research papers involve lab experiments on the workings of cells with samples from human volunteers’ bone marrow. Other scientific sleuths utilize special software, computer monitors, and eagle eyes to uncover inconsistencies in scientific papers and hold researchers accountable for any discrepancies that arise.

4. Dr. Barrett Rollins, research integrity officer at Dana-Farber, said that the institute was already reviewing the potential data errors highlighted by David. Dana-Farber is in the process of requesting six retractions and 31 corrections on published research. They have been conducting their review and corrections, taking prompt and decisive action.

5. Notable scientific sleuths, Sholto David and microbiologist Elisabeth Bik, have made significant contributions to the scientific community. Bik’s findings have led to retractions and corrections in several scientific articles. Her work has uncovered doctored images in various forms, from cell cultures to lab techniques distorting proteins. Additionally, others doing investigative work remain anonymous and are changing the scientific publication landscape.

6. While some image manipulation in scientific papers could be accidental, others may be intentional. The motivation behind this could include career building or fulfilling publication expectations. The pressure scientists face at different stages of their careers to publish can lead to the falsification of data or beautifying images to align with the story they aim to tell.

7. Following the allegations by David, scientific journals are investigating the errors raised. Some are aware of David’s concerns and are looking into the matters. Scientific integrity sleuths want science to be better and are frustrated by the lack of interest in academia and publishing in correcting the record. Their work is motivated by the need for researchers to adhere to scientific integrity to retain public trust in science.



Read more: Harvard Medical School affiliate, retracts, corrects research after sleuthing from 32-year-old Welsh blogger