The Wall Street Journal reported this week on an alarming increase in the number of retractions of published research by scientific journals. Charitably titled, “Mistakes in Scientific Studies Surge,†the article probably should have worked in the word “fraud†somewhere in there. The data are staggering. For example, in medical journals, the number of retractions during the 2001-2005 period was 87, but the number of retractions from 2006-2010 was 436. Astrophysics appears to be the only field that has escaped the retraction problem.
Now, of course, the number of articles published has increased (44%), but that increase alone cannot explain the five-fold increase in retractions. What gives? Here are the issues behind the retractions:
1. In some cases, the data are fabricated.
2. In some cases, the study design is flawed, i.e., the lack of double-blind set-up in the tests.
3. In some cases, the pressure the researchers were experiencing to “publish or perish†may have tainted their analyses, conclusions, or data.
4. In some cases, there were conflicts of interest, i.e., the results reached were not good for the companies funding the research.
5. In some cases, there are mistakes and/or incompetence in the analyses of the study data. In these situations, those who review the data find it difficult to conclude whether there was intentional manipulation or just plain flawed statistical analyses (something that happens to the best of us when it comes to stats).
6. In some cases, the researchers/authors are unable to provide the data used as the bases for the studies, i.e., the dog ate my homework.
7. In some cases, the reviewers simply failed to catch flaws in the design, numbers results, etc.
8. In some cases, publication proceeded despite questions. Journals are competitive and want to be the one to publish the definitive study on anything that changes lives, policies, and medicine. The desire to be first creates a kind of bias in the review and publication of the research.
The lesson learned from this increasing problem is that, ultimately, we are dependent upon trust. We trust that researchers will not fabricate data, will disclose conflicts, and will interpret data with an objective eye. We trust that reviewers will read studies with an objective and attuned eye. We trust that editors will ask the right questions of authors and reviewers. We trust that intellectual honesty remains at the heart of all academic inquiry. How disappointing to learn that trust was misplaced at so many levels. At the heart of trust is ethics. At the heart of ethics are the simple questions: Is this honest? Is this fair? Is this accurate? Indeed, in the case of medical studies, there is one more: Is this safe?
Academics are the first to rail on the Wall Streeters for their corruption. Oh, dear physicians, heal thyselves.
About mmjdiary
Professor Marianne Jennings is an emeritus professor of legal and ethical studies from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, retiring in 2011 after 35 years of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in ethics and the legal environment of business. During her tenure at ASU, she served as director of the Joan and David Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics from 1995-1999. In 2006, she was appointed faculty director for the W.P. Carey Executive MBA Program. She has done consulting work for businesses and professional groups including AICPA, Boeing, Dial Corporation, Edward Jones, Mattel, Motorola, CFA Institute, Southern California Edison, the Institute of Internal Auditors, AIMR, DuPont, AES, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Motorola, Hy-Vee Foods, IBM, Bell Helicopter, Amgen, Raytheon, and VIAD.
The sixth edition of her textbook, Case Studies in Business Ethics, was published in February 2011. The ninth edition of her textbook, Business: lts Legal, Ethical and Global Environment was published in January 2011. The 23rd edition of her book, Business Law: Principles and Cases, will be published in January 2013. The tenth edition of her book, Real Estate Law, will also be published in January 2013. Her book, A Business Tale: A Story of Ethics, Choices, Success, and a Very Large Rabbit, a fable about business ethics, was chosen by Library Journal in 2004 as its business book of the year. A Business Tale was also a finalist for two other literary awards for 2004. In 2000 her book on corporate governance was published by the New York Times MBA Pocket Series. Her book on long-term success, Building a Business Through Good Times and Bad: Lessons from Fifteen Companies, Each With a Century of Dividends, was published in October 2002 and has been used by Booz, Allen, Hamilton for its work on business longevity. Her latest book, The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse was published by St. Martin’s Press in July 2006 and has been a finalist for two book awards.
Her weekly columns are syndicated around the country, and her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Reader's Digest. A collection of her essays, Nobody Fixes Real Carrot Sticks Anymore, first published in 1994 is still being published. She has been a commentator on business issues on All Things Considered for National Public Radio.
She has served on four boards of directors, including Arizona Public Service (1987-2000), Zealous Capital Corporation, and the Center for Children with Chronic Illness and Disability at the University of Minnesota. She was appointed to the board of advisors for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators in 2004 and served on the board of trustees for Think Arizona, a public policy think tank. She has appeared on CNBC, CBS This Morning, the Today Show, and CBS Evening News.
In 2010 she was named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Business Ethics by Trust Across America. Her books have been translated into four different languages. She received the British Emerald award for authoring one of their top 50 articles in management publications, chosen from over 15,000 articles.
Personal: Married since 1976 to Terry H. Jennings, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Deputy County Attorney; five children: Sarah, Sam, and John, and the late Claire and Hannah Jennings.
