Fraud Crisis in the Secular Science Industry

Many people have an exalted view of science organizations as having an unbiased search for truth, using flawless logic, correcting the few errors made, publishing honest reports, and all that good stuff. Regular readers here as well as others who look behind the façade know otherwise.

Fundamental in the secular science industry is publishing research, especially in peer-reviewed journals. The pressure is tremendous and there are many possibilities for poor research and fraud to slip in. Indeed, there is a kind of fake paper industry going on.

Detroit building ruins, Unsplash / Laura Brain, modified at PhotoFunia

Science fraud is increasingly common. With advances in technology, it is also becoming easier to make a dishonest paper look good. Overworked, hurried reviewers are less likely to find treachery, unethical behavior, or errors. Also, they are unable to police their own, who are living according to their "survival of the fittest" worldview; if fraud helps them survive better... These things are concerning because the results trickle down to us reg'lar folks, including in medical science.

It seems increasingly clear that the gatekeepers of science are either h elpless to do anything about the damage that fraudulent papers are doing to science, or they appear to be indifferent or, in a few cases, are actively co-operating. Recently, Brooklyn-based freelance journalist Vince Bielski wrote a three-part series on this at Real Clear Investigations.

To read the rest (or listen by clicking on the speaker icon), visit "What a Declining System Looks Like: Fraud Crisis in Science Grows." Also, take a look at "Increasing Bunko in Secular Science Papers."