While there is currently no official consensus as to the extent of fraud or misrepresentation in the sciences, recent estimates suggest that they may occur in as much as 12% of all scientific research conducted in North America. In an age dominated philosophically by the overarching ideal of scientific truth, and in which science plays a central role in virtually every aspect of life, research fraud, in even the minutest degree, can have only dire and far-reaching implications.
Nowhere is the seriousness of scientific fraud more evident than in the behavioral and biomedical sciences βthose disciplines that have the most obvious and immediate impact upon the physical and psychological health and well-being of both the individual and society. Yet, traditionally, students and practitioners in those fields have received, at best, minimal exposure to the ethical issues involved in the research endeavor. This book seeks to rectify that situation.
Research Fraud in the Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences brings together contributions by specialists in psychology, medicine, law, and philosophy. Over the course of twelve chapters, those specialists treat topics as diverse as the history of research fraud, the moral and ethical philosophical aspects of empirical science, the legal ramifications of fraud, the psychology of people who commit fraud and the institutional and career pressures (publish or perish, etc) that often compel them to do so, and the influence of the review process used by professional journals and review boards. Also included are several chapters covering recent case histories of alleged fraud in biomedical and social science research.
In the final chapters of Research Fraud in the Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences, the editors explore, in great detail, options for future prevention of research fraud.
A comprehensive scholarly treatment of research fraud in the behavioral & biomedical sciences, this fascinating and enlightening book is essential reading for professionals in psychology, psychiatry, medicine, and related fields, and all those in the social sciences, as well as upper-level students in these disciplines.
About the editors:
DAVID J. MILLER, PhD, is Coordinator of Automated Information Systems for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences Service, and Chair of the Bioethics Committee at the VAMC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. An ssistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, he is a former director of clinical training at the Pittsburgh VA Psychology Internship Consortium and Coordinator of the Center for the Evaluation and Treatment of Former Prisoners of War. Dr Miller has published numerous papers in the areas of bioethics, posttraumatic stress disorder, and statistical modeling.
MICHEL HERSEN, PhD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Hersen also serves as the director of that universityβs postdoctoral training programsin psychiatry and in child psychiatry. He is a past president (1978-1980) of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy. Dr. Hersenβs books include Adult Psychopathology and Diagnosis (coedited with S.M. Turner), Handbook of Comparative Treatments for Adult Disorders (coedited with A. S. Bellack), and Treatment of Family Violence (coedited with R. T Ammerman).