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Lead book review

How far can we trust the men in lab coats?

Research has always been susceptible to fraud, but regulations are now much tighter than they were, says David Wootton

11 July 2020

9:00 AM

11 July 2020

9:00 AM

Science Fictions: Exposing Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype in Science Stuart Ritchie

Bodley Head, pp.368, 18.99

A month ago the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine each retracted a major study on Covid-19 drug therapies. One article had been up for more than a month, the other for less than two weeks. Both were based on faked data. That the rush to publish on Covid-19 led established researchers, reviewers and journals to skip elementary checks is deplorable, if not entirely surprising.

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