The scandals rocking cancer science matter to your health
There have been accusations of hyped findings, sloppiness and even fraud. Maybe AI would help peer reviewers do a better job of screening papers.
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It’s the latest crisis in academic research, where there’s a clear need for better quality control – a tighter filter than peer review.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM GOOGLE MAPS
F D Flam
The field of cancer biology is a mess. Signs of trouble emerged years before the most recent scandal, in which investigators found evidence of data manipulation in a slew of high-profile papers from the Harvard-affiliated Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
It’s the latest crisis in academic research, where there’s a clear need for better quality control – a tighter filter than peer review. Some researchers suggest that artificial intelligence (AI) could help point out which papers need closer scrutiny.
