In reality, nothing takes place the way it is described in a scientific article. However, as every researcher knows, it is pure falsehood. It appears transparent and free of any presuppositions. It has the virtue of being clear and solid in its logic. This is more or less the outline followed by millions of scientific articles published every year throughout the world. The archetypal presentation of articles in the life sciences follows this fine intellectual form: after explaining why a particular question could be asked (introduction) and describing how he or she intends to proceed to answer it (materials and methods), the researcher describes the content of the experiments (results), then interprets them (discussion). The assumption is that a researcher faced with an enigma posed by nature formulates a hypothesis, then conceives an experiment to test its validity. After all, anyone who took a philosophy course in college is likely to think of laboratory work as eminently rational. Is every scientific article a fraud? This question may seem puzzling to those outside the scientific community. In this extract, he highlights a systematic dishonesty at the heart of establishment science. In his new book, Fraud in the Lab, journalist and former lab researcher Nicolas Chevassus-au-Louis explores why cases of scientific misconduct around the world are rising.
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