Charles Piller

And so they want to assume the best and also want to give them the benefit of the doubt. That's one thing. Second, I think they are technologically behind the times. They are living a little bit in the past. They haven't realized that the degree to which these problems have increased with the ease with which scientific images can be altered in a relatively seamless way.

And so they want to assume the best and also want to give them the benefit of the doubt. That's one thing. Second, I think they are technologically behind the times. They are living a little bit in the past. They haven't realized that the degree to which these problems have increased with the ease with which scientific images can be altered in a relatively seamless way.

And it's pretty interesting, um, I think one of the things that to me is the most interesting about this entire state of affairs is that like so many things on the internet, what has happened is that because when institutions don't effectively do their job, there becomes a community of people. who are self-organized and they start to do the job for the institutions. The sleuthing of the world.

And it's pretty interesting, um, I think one of the things that to me is the most interesting about this entire state of affairs is that like so many things on the internet, what has happened is that because when institutions don't effectively do their job, there becomes a community of people. who are self-organized and they start to do the job for the institutions. The sleuthing of the world.

And it's pretty interesting, um, I think one of the things that to me is the most interesting about this entire state of affairs is that like so many things on the internet, what has happened is that because when institutions don't effectively do their job, there becomes a community of people. who are self-organized and they start to do the job for the institutions. The sleuthing of the world.

That's right. The, the image sleuths, they like to call themselves often. And these are folks that in their own spare time, because almost no one's making a living doing this. They're just fascinated by the discovery process. Like, you know, a little bit like true crime detectives and they, what they want to do is look at these images and,

That's right. The, the image sleuths, they like to call themselves often. And these are folks that in their own spare time, because almost no one's making a living doing this. They're just fascinated by the discovery process. Like, you know, a little bit like true crime detectives and they, what they want to do is look at these images and,

That's right. The, the image sleuths, they like to call themselves often. And these are folks that in their own spare time, because almost no one's making a living doing this. They're just fascinated by the discovery process. Like, you know, a little bit like true crime detectives and they, what they want to do is look at these images and,

Interestingly, even without understanding the underlying science often, you can just become an expert in understanding whether images might have been altered and using software tools to assist that process. And so in a way, the image sleuths publishing on things like a website called PubPeer, which frames itself as a discussion club for articles, scholarly articles,

Interestingly, even without understanding the underlying science often, you can just become an expert in understanding whether images might have been altered and using software tools to assist that process. And so in a way, the image sleuths publishing on things like a website called PubPeer, which frames itself as a discussion club for articles, scholarly articles,

Interestingly, even without understanding the underlying science often, you can just become an expert in understanding whether images might have been altered and using software tools to assist that process. And so in a way, the image sleuths publishing on things like a website called PubPeer, which frames itself as a discussion club for articles, scholarly articles,

And in fact, what often happens is that it becomes a place where people with concerns about possibly altered images or phony research can post those. And they usually are posted as questions. We're not sure what's going on here, but this doesn't look right to us. Can the authors please respond to this? And I think you'll find that about 90% of the time there's no author response.

And in fact, what often happens is that it becomes a place where people with concerns about possibly altered images or phony research can post those. And they usually are posted as questions. We're not sure what's going on here, but this doesn't look right to us. Can the authors please respond to this? And I think you'll find that about 90% of the time there's no author response.

And in fact, what often happens is that it becomes a place where people with concerns about possibly altered images or phony research can post those. And they usually are posted as questions. We're not sure what's going on here, but this doesn't look right to us. Can the authors please respond to this? And I think you'll find that about 90% of the time there's no author response.

because they usually don't have a good story to tell because these image sleuths are, many of them are quite good at what they do. And they're taking the place of institutional authorities like journals, funders, and regulators who are not doing as good a job at watchdogging these issues.

because they usually don't have a good story to tell because these image sleuths are, many of them are quite good at what they do. And they're taking the place of institutional authorities like journals, funders, and regulators who are not doing as good a job at watchdogging these issues.

because they usually don't have a good story to tell because these image sleuths are, many of them are quite good at what they do. And they're taking the place of institutional authorities like journals, funders, and regulators who are not doing as good a job at watchdogging these issues.

Do you think that there's a rise in this type of corruption in the scientific world because of the finances involved and how there's been an astronomical rise in the potential money to be made on medications, on discoveries, on breakthroughs? Is that the incentive there?

Do you think that there's a rise in this type of corruption in the scientific world because of the finances involved and how there's been an astronomical rise in the potential money to be made on medications, on discoveries, on breakthroughs? Is that the incentive there?

Do you think that there's a rise in this type of corruption in the scientific world because of the finances involved and how there's been an astronomical rise in the potential money to be made on medications, on discoveries, on breakthroughs? Is that the incentive there?