VOA科学技术2024--Part-time Detectives Find Problems in Medical, Scientific Research

Part-time Detectives Find Problems in Medical, Scientific Research

　　A major cancer hospital and research center recently announced it is asking for withdrawals¹ or corrections to at least 37 research papers.

　　Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston is taking action after its research included false images.

　　The cancer hospital is connected with Harvard University's medical school. Harvard's last president, Claudine Gay, recently left her position after being accused of plagiarism². Plagiarism is when a person claims someone else's work as their own.

　　In the Dana-Farber case, a blogger from Wales in Britain, said the cancer center published documents that had manipulated images. Sholto David is a 32-year-old blogger who investigates scientific reports in his free time.

　　On January 2, David wrote on his blog that he found suspicious images in 30 papers published by four Dana-Farber scientists, including top leaders Laurie Glimcher and William Hahn. He said some of the images made the research look stronger. The papers discussed how cells work. Another documented samples of bone marrow³ from human volunteers.

　　When did the problem surface?

　　Similar investigators⁴ found problems with some of the Dana-Farber papers and pointed⁵ them out on a website called PubPeer. Reporters from Harvard's student newspaper started writing about the problems on January 12.

　　Dana-Farber answered the news coverage⁶ by saying it had already been looking into the problems. On January 22, the center said it asked for six of the papers to be retracted⁷, or withdrawn⁸ from publication, because of problems. It also asked for corrections in 31 other papers.

　　Dr. Barrett Rollins is the research integrity officer at Dana-Farber. He said the center and its scientists took "prompt and decisive action in (most) cases" that David pointed out.

　　Community of "sleuths"

　　David is not the only person who studies scientific research and looks for errors. Elisabeth Bik is a microbiologist in California. She has been looking at journals and papers for 10 years. Based on her work over 1,000 articles have been pulled back. Over 1,000 have been corrected and 153 times journals have printed their concerns about previously⁹ published work.

　　She has seen manipulated images of bacteria, cells and more.

　　Bik wrote about her work in a paper published by the American Society for Microbiology in 2016. "Science should be about finding the truth," she said.

　　Bik does get some money for her work. Some people who like her work subscribe¹⁰ to a journal she writes. She earns about $2,300 per month for the work she does. David said he earns just over $200 a month for his work.

　　Why do they do it?

　　Ivan Oransky is an expert on the science sleuths. He teaches medical journalism¹¹ at Columbia University in New York City. He said some of the detectives use software tools to look for problems in scientific writing. Many do not use their names when they write about their findings.

　　Oransky said the sleuths "want science to do and be better." He said they are upset that people in publishing and at universities do not seem interested in correcting mistakes. Some of the bloggers are worried that the number of people who trust science is falling.

　　Bik said the problem that leads to false research is that many doctors and scientists feel pressure to get published. And they make mistakes because they are in a hurry.

　　Oransky, the journalism teacher at Columbia, said pressure to publish means: if the images do not match the story the paper is trying to tell, "you beautify them."

　　What next?

　　Scientific journals look at errors brought to their attention but do not often do a public investigation¹². They keep the process quiet and then release their decision. Usually, they will ask for a correction or withdraw the paper.

　　Some journals told The Associated Press they were looking into the issues that David raised.

　　Words in This Story

　　manipulate –v. to change in a way that is meant to affect people in a certain way or to deceive people

　　suspicious –adj. causing concern that there is something wrong

　　sample –n. a small amount of a substance that is taken for study or research

　　integrity –n. the quality of being honest, fair, complete or good

　　prompt –adj. quick, done in a timely way

　　sleuth –n. someone who looks for clues to solve crimes or problems

　　journalism –n. the job of finding, writing and editing news stories for newspapers, magazines, TV and radio

　　beautify –v. to make something beautiful or to increase its beauty

1 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

2 plagiarism   

n.剽窃，抄袭

参考例句：

• Teachers in America fight to control cheating and plagiarism.美国老师们努力对付欺骗和剽窃的问题。
• Now he's in real trouble.He's accused of plagiarism.现在他是真遇到麻烦了。他被指控剽窃。

3 marrow   

n.骨髓；精华；活力

参考例句：

• It was so cold that he felt frozen to the marrow. 天气太冷了，他感到寒冷刺骨。
• He was tired to the marrow of his bones.他真是累得筋疲力尽了。

4 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

7 retracted   

v.撤回或撤消( retract的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝执行或遵守；缩回；拉回

参考例句：

• He made a false confession which he later retracted. 他作了假供词，后来又翻供。
• A caddy retracted his statement. 一个球童收回了他的话。 来自辞典例句

8 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 subscribe   

vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助

参考例句：

• I heartily subscribe to that sentiment.我十分赞同那个观点。
• The magazine is trying to get more readers to subscribe.该杂志正大力发展新订户。

11 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。