Scientific misconduct is a serious form of violation of the standard codes of scholarly conduct and ethical behavior in the publication of professional scientific research. A Lancet review on Handling of Scientific Misconduct in Scandinavian countries gave examples of policy definitions. In Denmark, scientific misconduct is defined as "intention[al] negligence leading to fabrication of the scientific message or a false credit or emphasis given to a scientist", and in Sweden as "intention[al] distortion of the research process by fabrication of data, text, hypothesis, or methods from another researcher's manuscript form or publication; or distortion of the research process in other ways."
A 2009 systematic review and meta-analysis of survey data found that about 2% of scientists admitted to falsifying, fabricating, or modifying data at least once.
Biology and biomedical sciences Bharat Aggarwal (US), a former Ransom Horne, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Cancer Research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, resigned from his position after fraud was discovered in 65 papers published by him in the area of curcumin as a treatment for cancer. As of 2024 Aggarwal has had 30 of his research papers retracted, with 10 others having received an expression of concern and 17 others having been corrected. Anna Ahimastos (Australia) resigned from her position at Melbourne's Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute in 2015 after admitting to fabricating data in a trial of the blood pressure drug ramipril that analyzed if ramipril could reduce pain in people with peripheral artery disease. As of 2025, Ahimastos has had nine of her research publications retracted. Elias Alsabti (Iraq, US), was a medical practitioner who posed as a biomedical researcher. He plagiarized as many as 60 papers in the field of cancer research, many with non-existent co-authors. Werner Bezwoda (South Africa), formerly of the University of Witwatersrand, admitted to scientific misconduct in trials on high-dose chemotherapy on breast cancer, stating that he had "committed a serious breach of scientific honesty and integrity." Joachim Boldt (Germany), an anesthesiologist formerly based at the Justus Liebig University Giessen, was stripped of his professorship and criminally investigated for forgery in his research studies.Heidi Blake, Holly Watt and Robert Winnett. "Millions of surgery patients at risk in drug research fraud scandal". The Telegraph, 3 March 2011 (retrieved 3 March 2011) As of 2024, Boldt has had 220 of his research publications retracted, and 10 others have received an expression of concern. C. David Bridges (US), an emeritus researcher at Purdue University and formerly at Baylor College of Medicine, was found by a NIH investigation panel to have stolen ideas from a rival's manuscript that Bridges had been asked to review, and used that information to produce and publish his own research on eye enzymes. The investigating panel described Bridges' conduct as "an egregious misconduct of science that undermines the entire concept and practice of scientific experimentation and ethical responsibility", with NIH later stripping Bridges of his funding. Silvia Bulfone-Paus (Germany, UK), an immunologist at the Research Center Borstel and a professor of immunobiology at the University of Manchester, has had 13 of her publications retracted following investigations of scientific misconduct involving image manipulation. Cyril Burt (UK) was accused posthumously of faking statistics in I.Q. studies, and of inventing two co-authors in questionable papers he had published. Ranjit Chandra (Canada), former nutrition researcher at Memorial University of Newfoundland and self-proclaimed "father of nutritional immunology", was in 2015 stripped of his Order of Canada membership following accusations of scientific wrongdoing in his research. In 2015 Chandra lost a $132 million case against the CBC, which in 2006 presented a documentary in which 10 of Chandra's publications were identified as "fraudulent or highly suspicious"; Chandra was ordered to pay the CBC $1.6 million to cover the defendant's legal fees. As of 2020 four of Chandra's research publications have been retracted. Ching-Shih Chen (US), the former chair of cancer research at Ohio State University, was investigated by OSU and the federal Office of Research Integrity after being anonymously reported for falsifying data. The investigation found that Chen mishandled images and figures in published papers, "intentionally falsified data", and did not keep any laboratory notebooks on his research, a violation of federal research policies. As of 2024 Chen has had ten research publications retracted, two other papers have received an expression of concern, and five other papers have been corrected. Carlo M. Croce (US), an oncologist and professor of medicine at Ohio State University, has been the subject of several allegations of scientific misconduct, including data falsification, and related institutional investigations. Croce, who has been described as a "serial plaintiff", has filed lawsuits against critics, including a defamation claim against The New York Times that in 2018 was dismissed, a defamation lawsuit he lost against David Sanders of Purdue University and a lawsuit he lost against Ohio State University to reclaim a department chair position from which he was removed. In 2026, Croce lost two other lawsuits against OSU involving claims related to various breaches of contract, unpaid bonuses, and rehabilitation of his reputation. As of 2026, 18 of Croce's research publications have been retracted, five others have received an expression of concern, and 24 others have been corrected. Andrew Jess Dannenberg (US), a physician and cancer researcher formerly associated with Weill Medical College at Cornell University, had several of his published papers retracted in 2020 due to irregularities in the figures, and in 2022 additional publications were retracted due to "evidence of data falsification or fabrication." As of 2023 Dannenberg has had 20 of his research publications retracted, with two other publications receiving an expression of concern. John Darsee (US), a cardiologist formerly based at Harvard University, fabricated data in published research articles and more than 100 abstracts and book chapters. In 1983 Darsee was disbarred for ten years by the US National Institutes of Health. Darsee has had at least 17 of his publications retracted. Dipak Das (US), former director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Connecticut Health Center, was found in a University investigation to be guilty of 145 counts of fabrication or falsification of research data."UConn Investigation Finds That Health Researcher Fabricated Data", The Chronicle of Higher Education, 11 January 2012 As of 2023, Das has had 23 of his research publications retracted. Masoumeh Ebtekar (Iran), head of the Iranian Department of Environment at Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, substantially plagiarized several previously published articles in a 2006 paper that was later retracted. Terry Elton (US), Professor of Pharmacology at Ohio State University, was found guilty in 2013 of scientific misconduct by both a University committee and the Office of Research Integrity. Elton has had seven of his publications retracted. Ariel Fernandez (US), former professor of Bioengineering at Rice University, was found in 2022 to have falsified research findings "in 12 published papers, four unpublished manuscripts, one presentation, and three grant applications". In 2026, the United States Office of Research Integrity formally debarred Fernandez for scientific misconduct, for a period of fifteen years. Yoshitaka Fujii (Japan), an anesthesiologist, was found to have fabricated data in at least 183 scientific papers, setting what is believed to be a record for the number of papers by a single author requiring retractions. A committee reviewing 212 papers published by Fujii over a span of 20 years found that 126 were entirely fabricated, with no scientific work done. Only 3 were found to be valid. He was also found to have forged the signatures of scientists he listed as co-authors without their knowledge. As of 2023, Fujii has had 182 of their research publications retracted, and 47 others have received an expression of concern. Dong-Pyou Han (US), former assistant professor of biomedical sciences at Iowa State University, added human antibodies to samples of rabbit blood in an effort to falsely enhance the utility of an experimental HIV vaccine. In 2015 Han was sentenced to nearly five years in prison and ordered to return $7.2 million to the NIH. Elizabeth Holmes, biotech entrepreneur and founder of the medical diagnostic company Theranos, was convicted for fraudGriffith, Erin; Woo, Erin (January 3, 2022). "Elizabeth Holmes is found guilty of four counts of fraud". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 4, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2022. and in November 2022 sentenced to serve 11 years in prison.Keenan, Alexis (November 18, 2022). "Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos founder, sentenced to 11.25 years in prison". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved November 19, 2022. Many major trials of the drug ivermectin that claimed it could prevent COVID-19 were found to show signs of fraud and had "either obvious signs of fabrication or errors so critical they invalidate the study," according to one of the groups investigating the studies. For example, some studies were found to list patients who had never actually participated in the research, and others placed patients who were already statistically more likely to die in the placebo group while putting the healthier patients in the experimental group that received ivermectin. Studies that were found to contain legitimate research were generally inconclusive about the effects of ivermectin on COVID-19. He Jiankui (China), former associate professor with the Southern University of Science and Technology, was in 2019 sentenced to three years in prison and fined three million yuan (about US$430,000) for illegally carrying out human embryo gene-editing intended for reproduction. The case is called the He Jiankui affair. Woo-suk Hwang (Hwang Woo-suk) (South Korea), former Professor of Biotechnology at Seoul National University, was found by a University committee to have committed "deliberate fabrication" in his research on stem cells, and to have coerced female members of his research team to donate their eggs. The incidence is known as the Hwang affair. In 2009 Hwang was found guilty by the Seoul Central District Court of embezzlement and bioethical violations in connection to his research program. Sophie Jamal (Canada), former Professor of Medicine at University of Toronto and former staff endocrinologist at Women's College Hospital, Toronto, falsified data from studies of nitroglycerin compounds in osteoporosis. Results published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2011 were retracted by the Journal in 2016. In 2016 Jamal received a lifetime funding ban from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research"Disclosures: July 19, 2016 – Dr. Jamal" (19 July 2016). Panel on Responsible Conduct of Research, Government of Canada. Retrieved 4 October 2018. and in 2018 her license to practice medicine was revoked by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Jamal has had four of her research publications retracted.