| Regular Misbehaviors In December 2000, the US Office of Science and Technology Policy defined research misconduct as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism, but a recent study in Nature, "Scientists Behaving Badly" says misconduct extends well beyond high-profile FFP. The authors say "mundane 'regular' misbehaviors" present greater threats to science than high-profile cases of fraud. 33% of the scientists surveyed admitted to at least one of the top ten misbehaviors. The Association of American Medical Colleges objects to a such surveys. Consider this-- how likely is it the worst offenders returned the survey? |
38% of Papers in Nature (2001) had at least one statistical error Two researchers reviewed the basic calculation of p-values, in research articles published in Nature in 2001. 38% of the articles had at least one error. |
| Science Self-Polices... But, slowly After Steven Leadon, a researcher at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, was caught falsifying data, Tony Waldrop, UNC's vice chancellor for research and economic development said the retraction of the high-cited paper in Science shows "the scientific process works". The retraction was published eight years after the original paper. |
Cart Pushes Horse The title may say it all: DAUBERT'S TROUBLESOME OFFSPRING: LITIGATION-GENERATED SCIENCE |
Medical literature often finds its way into the courtroom. While research in a peer-reviewed, prestigious medical journal would be expected to provide the best evidence science has to offer, there is much more to the story. Critical evaluation beyond checking author, institute, or journal is definitely needed when your expert or the other side's quotes a journal article.
Advocates needs to know the strengths and weaknesses of the scientific evidence being quoted by experts throughout the course of the case.
Verim Research analyzes medical journal articles, assessing their scientific strengths and weaknesses in the context of what the study actually presents and how it could be used in litigation. We do this by examining the clinical question being tested, the evaluations performed, and the resulting statistics. We then review how those results were used to reach conclusions, paying special attention to biases exaggerating or minimizing the evidence. If needed, we can find the sources you need and help make you and your experts aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each article uncovered.
We invite you to explore our site to find out:
How Medical Literature is Used in Litigation
What Today's Medical Journals are Like
How Researchers Get the Numbers They Want
What Verim Research Can Do For You