Today, The Scientist has revealed more about the scandal involving nanoscientist Chiming Wei which was first written about here on bioethics.net.
This scandal has brought into question what counts as “expertise” in nanomedicine, The Scientist claims, and one source was quoted as saying that it may have even damaged the reputation of the field.
My take: generally scientists trust that their credentials are accurate–the letters after their name, their CVs, their stated goals and activities. But some take advantage of that trust and in a field absent sufficient regulation and oversight, that may be even easier to do. The rules should not, however, be based on the Dr. Wei’s of the world, but we should remember that absent sufficient regulation and oversight research and academic ethics violations can and will occur.
Summer Johnson, PhD