Sir, – I write in reply to Dr Cormac O'Raifeartaigh's letter (June 22nd) regarding my recent science column ("Something has gone very wrong with science", June 18th) on misconduct in scientific research.
In my column I reported on a recent UK meeting that considered scientific misconduct specifically in biomedical research. Dr O’Raifeartaigh asks whether we can assume that this issue is equally significant across all branches of science.
Unfortunately it seems that misconduct occurs in all branches of scientific research. However, there is tentative evidence that misconduct is more common in clinical, pharmacological and medical research than in other research fields (Daniele Fanelli, Plos One, May 29th, 2009), but this needs to be confirmed by independent studies. – Yours, etc,
WILLIAM REVILLE,
Emeritus Professor,
School of Biochemistry
and Cell Biology,
University College Cork.