The big melon that broke out in the international academic circle this year is shocking. At the same time, it makes people sigh that the academic fraud has spread to the top academic circle. On September 2, 2022, the Nobel Prize winner Gregg L. Semenza withdrew his four papers published in the international leading journal PNAS, because some of the pictures in his papers were suspected of falsification or even direct copying, and the other 50 papers were also suspected of falsification. published before the award.
In the past, articles published by domestic scholars were often “specially taken care of” by their international counterparts. They were either rejected for no reason, or delayed in publication and repeatedly reviewed, because they often questioned the authenticity of the article. In fact, the foreign academic circle is not a pure land. Last month, Sylvain Lesné, a top international scientist in the field of Alzheimer’s disease, was reported to be fraudulent. His series of papers are considered to have opened a new chapter in research in this field. Numerous papers published in the journal Nature have been withdrawn, but the impact of these papers is immeasurable, because over the past 20 years, many scientists in the field have invested countless energy and research funds under the guidance of these papers, but in the end they have achieved nothing. The drugs developed according to these articles have already entered the clinic, and their efficacy has been seriously questioned.
The impact of fraud by ordinary researchers is not the same as the impact of fraud by these academic authorities. Although the scientific papers produced by fraud by ordinary researchers will also have a certain impact on the corresponding field, the impact is limited. And it is often quickly discovered and questioned by peers, while academic authority fraud is generally rarely questioned. Even if it is questioned, it will not be overthrown for a while, but it will continue to affect other researchers in the field, lead them astray, and divert scientific research energy. And the funds are invested in the wrong direction. What is even more terrifying is that the drugs developed by their theoretical research will inevitably lead to more serious consequences if they are lucky enough to enter the clinic.
