Cheating Scientists?

This should scare the hell out of every one of us who try lawsuits for a living and have to rely on or fight against “scientific studies.”

This article from the Washington Post tells us that (a) “more than 5 percent of scientists answering a confidential questionnaire admitted to having tossed out data because the information contradicted their previous research or said they had circumvented some human research protections;” (b) “ten percent admitted they had inappropriately included their names or those of others as authors on published research reports;” (c)”more than 15 percent admitted they had changed a study’s design or results to satisfy a sponsor, or ignored observations because they had a “gut feeling” they were inaccurate;” and (d)
“13.5 percent who used research designs they knew would not give accurate results.”

It is no surprise that the survey of the 3247 scientists was conducted anonymously.