Ivan Oransky discusses how journalists can effectively and safely report on scientific fraud. He recommends getting to know sites like PubPeer that allow commenting on published studies, reading the comments which may reveal issues, filing public records requests to obtain internal reports, checking sites for retractions and misconduct records, and collaborating with Retraction Watch. However, he cautions journalists to beware of potential legal issues and lawyers when investigating scientific fraud cases.

1. AHCJ
Washington, DC, October 2015
Ivan Oransky
Co-founder, Retraction Watch
Executive Director, The Center For Scientific Integrity
Vice President, Global Editorial Director, MedPage Today
Distinguished Writer In Residence, New York University
@ivanoransky
How Journalists Can Effectively – And
Safely – Report on Scientific Fraud

2. Agenda
• Love The New World
• Find The Documents
• Set Up Alerts
• Learn The Law

3. Get To Know PubPeer

4. Get To Know PubPeer

5. Read The Comments

6. Read The Comments
Outside observers were, however, more thorough than the faculty
in assessing the problems with Toth’s studies. “Subsequently,
Retraction Watch identified other questionable data” and a
complaint triggered a university “Committee of Investigation”
process that began in May 2013, MacQueen said.
The committee concluded in March 2014 that “Toth did not have
appropriate oversight of the data coming out of his lab,” said
MacQueen. “The result was a finding of a breach of research
integrity.”

7. File Public Records Requests

8. File Public Records Requests
But a copy of an internal Harvard report released to the Globe under
the Freedom of Information Act now paints a vivid picture of what
actually happened in the Hauser lab and suggests it was not mere
negligence that led to the problems.

9. Sites To Check
• Google alerts for “retraction,” misconduct,”
and “fraud”
• PubMed alerts for “retraction” at institutions
of interest
• Scan journal TOCs for retractions that mention
some kind of manipulation, etc.
• Office of Research Integrity:
http://ori.hhs.gov/case_summary (and
Federal Register)

10. Sites To Check
• Retraction Watch!
http://retractionwatch.com
• Seriously, collaborate.

11. Beware of Lawyers

12. Contact Info/Acknowledgements
oransiØ1@nyu.edu
http://retractionwatch.com
@ivanoransky
Thanks:
The MacArthur Foundation
The Arnold Foundation
Nancy Lapid, Reuters Health