Diederik Stapel fabricated research data and published more than ten refereed journal
Background for the Citical Thinking Essay Question:
Diederik Stapel fabricated research data and published more than ten refereed journal articles using fabricated research data, figures were misrepresented, and his research methods were not implemented as he described. Almost all the work of South Korean stem-cell researcher Hwang Woo Suk was discovered to be fraudulent. Harvard evolutionary biologist Marc Houser was discovered to have fabricated data in several of his journal papers.
Unfortunately, examples of research misconduct are becoming more common and visible. When well published researchers have their papers retracted by refereed journals the negative impact is very difficult to repair. Other researchers who reference or use the fraudulent data and conclusions suffer lasting damage. Subsequent published research that is based on fraudulent data from earlier papers can span decades and involve hundreds of papers. The number of derivative papers involved can grow exponentially. While these derivative papers are not fundamentally fraudulent, their data and conclusions are to varying degrees negatively impacted. The derivative papers are rarely, if ever, withdrawn or revised after publication. Users of derivative papers have no obvious way of knowing they referenced fraudulent papers several generations removed.
This raises an ethical dilemma regarding what to do about the derivative papers.
Critical Thinking Essay Question:
Using the concepts developed in this course what would be your approach to resolving the ethical dilemma of what to do about derivative papers? Please limit your answer to no more than 500 words. 300 words should be adequate.
Answer preview to Diederik Stapel fabricated research data and published more than ten refereed journal
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