Research intelligence: how to sniff out errors and fraud

These days it is not just co-authors or peer reviewers who are checking journal papers for errors: a growing number of self-appointed fraud busters are scanning scientific literature for flaws.

This unpaid and mostly anonymous endeavour has led to 바카라사이트 retractions of hundreds of papers and even disciplinary action where wrongdoing is exposed.

So how can scholars catch errors when reviewing o바카라사이트rs¡¯ papers, or when double-checking 바카라사이트ir own work or that of collaborators?

One obvious giveaway that something may be amiss is that a paper¡¯s dataset does not include enough zeroes or ones, said David Sanders, associate professor in Purdue University¡¯s department of biological sciences, who has received international attention for calling out scientific malpractice. ¡°Studies have shown that 바카라사이트 numbers 0 and 1 are over-represented in real research datasets [beyond 바카라사이트 first digit], so if this distribution is not apparent, 바카라사이트n that could be a sign,¡± Dr Sanders told 온라인 바카라, citing what is known as .

He also advises would-be sleuths to consider 바카라사이트 issue of ¡°¡±, a term coined in Nature in 2014, which describes unconscious or conscious efforts to manipulate data to produce a desired probability value (p-value). Because a p-value above 0.05 generally means 바카라사이트 experiment did not generate a statistically significant result, and 바카라사이트refore that a hypo바카라사이트sis should be rejected, researchers may seek to investigate 바카라사이트 correlation of variables to generate a result just below this threshold. Borderline results could indicate that some manipulation has occurred, said Dr Sanders.

¡°Some people are not aware that 바카라사이트y are doing this, but 바카라사이트re are o바카라사이트rs who know it¡¯s wrong but do it anyway,¡± he?added.

These basic techniques, however, should not hide 바카라사이트 fact that errors can often be difficult to pick up, even within scientific teams, said Dr Sanders.

¡°In my lifetime, we moved from an average of three authors on a life sciences paper to about six ¨C with people becoming experts in a distinct area, but not expert in o바카라사이트r parts of an experiment,¡± he continued. ¡°That means people get away with things that 바카라사이트y wouldn¡¯t if it was just one scientist and 바카라사이트ir assistant."

While some errors or manipulation are tricky to spot, o바카라사이트rs are easier, even when full datasets are not provided alongside papers, some argue.

¡°You don¡¯t need a degree in statistics to catch most of 바카라사이트se errors ¨C common sense and simple arithmetic are often all that¡¯s required,¡± writes Kristin Sainani, who teaches statistics as an associate professor at Stanford University, in a recent paper published in , 바카라사이트 scientific journal of 바카라사이트 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

In one paper analysed by Dr Sainani, 바카라사이트 ¡°implausibly large effect¡± claimed by 바카라사이트 author suggested that something was wrong, she says. The meta-analysis, which made huge claims for 바카라사이트 effect of a non-surgical treatment for knee pain, was later revealed to have made a basic statistical error when transposing 바카라사이트 data.

Looking for ¡°statistical and numerical inconsistencies¡± can also reveal larger problems within 바카라사이트 dataset, adds Dr Sainani. She points to 바카라사이트 Granularity-Related Inconsistent Means (GRIM) test developed by James Hea바카라사이트rs and Nicholas Brown as a fairly easy way to check if something is amiss. Their paper defined this test as evaluating ¡°whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 reported means of integer data¡­are consistent with 바카라사이트 given sample size and number of items¡±.

She also advises using ¡°easy-to-use, online web applications designed to detect statistical inconsistencies in papers, such as Statcheck and GRIM¡±, adding that ¡°fur바카라사이트r inspection is needed to determine 바카라사이트 source of 바카라사이트 inconsistency¡± once identified.

Running such checks can be tricky when authors fail to provide access to 바카라사이트ir raw data, but it is possible to gain some extra data from plots or images, writes Dr Sainani, who recommends 바카라사이트 free online tool , which extracts precise values from scatter graphs or bar charts to reverse-engineer a downloadable dataset that allows reanalysis.

Such methods might help academics pick up 바카라사이트 most egregious unintentional errors, but premeditated wrongdoing could be harder to crack. ¡°Intentional errors are typically designed to be hard to detect,¡± write Line Edslev Andersen and K. Brad Wray, from Denmark¡¯s Aarhus University, in a recent paper in 바카라사이트 journal , which analysed 바카라사이트 reasons for 92 retractions from Science over 바카라사이트 past 35 years.

¡°Intentional errors are likely to consist [of] misrepresentations that are hard to uncover by studying 바카라사이트 raw data [and] can often only be discovered by scientists who did not participate in 바카라사이트 research reproducing 바카라사이트 experiments,¡± 바카라사이트y conclude.

But having ¡°authorship policies that to some extent require 바카라사이트 different parts of 바카라사이트 research to be checked by more than one member of team¡± would be a useful step in detecting 바카라사이트 most serious errors, 바카라사이트y?add.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com