Errors and Misconduct in Biomedical Research

A Public Lecture by Dr Elisabeth Bik, Science Consultant

Science builds upon science. Even after peer-review and publication, science papers could still contain images or other data of concern. If not addressed post-publication, papers containing incorrect or even falsified data could lead to wasted time and money spent by other researchers trying to reproduce those results. Several high-profile science misconduct cases have been described, but many more cases remain undetected. Elisabeth Bik is an image forensics detective who left her paid job in industry to search for and report biomedical articles that contain errors or data of concern. She has done a systematic scan of 20,000 papers in 40 journals and found that about 4% of these contained inappropriately duplicated images. In her talk, she will present her work and show several types of inappropriately duplicated images and other examples of errors or research misconduct. In addition, she will show how to report scientific papers of concern, and how journals and institutions handle such allegations. Finally, she will address the growing problems of 'paper mills', for-profit networks that produce and sell large amounts of low-quality or fake papers.

Elisabeth Bik, PhD is a Dutch-American microbiologist who has worked for 15 years at Stanford University and 2 years in industry. Since 2019, she is a science integrity volunteer and consultant who scans the biomedical literature for images or other data of concern. She has found over 8,000 scientific papers, and her work resulted in over 1,200 retractions and another 1,000 corrections. For her work in science communication and exposing research misconduct, she received the 2021 John Maddox Prize.

Elisabeth Bik’s visit is supported by the Forrest Hall Research Foundation, the Office of Research and Institute of Advanced Studies at The University of Western Australia.

10 October, 6pm-7pm | Murdoch Lecture Theatre, UWA Arts Building
Parking at UWA