Paris (AFP)

Uncovering errors or fraud in scientific publications is paradoxically essential to preserve confidence in science, explains Dutch microbiologist Elisabeth Bik, based in California, a leading figure in scientific integrity.

Q: Why did you specialize in scientific integrity?

A: I discovered the plagiarism (problem) by accident in 2013. I was checking a sentence of my own (on the internet) and saw that it had been used by others.

It became like a ball of which I unrolled the thread (...), I discovered a lot of papers which had plagiarized, I pointed out a lot of them and a lot of them were withdrawn.

I also discovered in a thesis that the same image had been used for two different experiments, it had just been returned.

Photos in scientific papers are usually data, not just illustrations, they really show data.

I was doing this in addition to my job, but in 2019 I decided to do it full time.

Before that, I didn't realize that there were so many glaring issues in articles.

I also think that with experience, it is easier to see errors or intentional fraud.

Q: Isn't pointing out the problems publicly, risking the idea that all science is dishonest?

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A: I don't want people to think all of science is fraudulent because it isn't.

I would say 99% of scientists are very honest and hard working.

We cannot just take a (problematic) article and extrapolate to all scientific publications.

My work is very important because scientific articles are based on other articles, scientists read articles of their colleagues and build their research on them.

Science is like a brick wall.

We scientists lay bricks on top of other bricks, and if a brick isn't stable, then the people who are building their research on it may not be doing it on stable ground.

Science is a continuum, and we need to make sure that all of its components are as good as possible.

Scientists have always had mutual trust in their work.

I'm here to say that maybe we shouldn't trust blindly.

Trust but verify.

Q: The Covid has brought science to light.

For better or for worse?

A: A lot of scientists argue with each other and sometimes disagree, it just goes to show that science is a process.

In publications or in conferences, discussions can be very fierce but most often concern details.

It's a normal process, that's how science works.

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But the association between a pandemic, social media, and all the misinformation going around is making many people think all of the science is fraudulent.

Which, again, is not.

I also think that some media, some TV shows for example, have some responsibility, when they debate someone who denies the existence of the virus and a scientist, as if their words are valid, as if it was two political figures with different ideas.

It's not fair because there are maybe a million scientists supporting this one and three people who believe what the other says.

There has been far too much media attention for wacky "contrarians" who just scream at all costs that the virus does not exist.

© 2021 AFP