86. Elisabeth Bik: Reporting scientific misconduct, the arms race between fraud & fraud detection, and the microbiome of dolphins

Elisabeth Bik is a science integrity consultant. In this conversation, we talk about her work on reporting scientific errors and misconduct, how one becomes a full-time scientific integrity consultant, her postdoc work on the microbiome of dolphins, reactions to her work (both positive and negative), how to deal with online abuse, the arms race between fraudsters and fraud detectors, and much more.

BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.

Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreon

Timestamps
0:00:00: How Elisabeth became a full-time science integrity consultant
0:04:45: The microbiome of dolphins
0:12:02: What should I do if I find errors or fraud in a paper?
0:28:58: Reactions to Elisabeth's work: awards, online abuse, and lots of silence from journals
0:52:23: Should you report misconduct if you're in a vulnerable position?
0:58:19: What problems are worth reporting?
1:05:51: How does one become a (full-time) research integrity consultant?
1:13:21: The arms race between people commiting fraud and people detecting fraud
1:22:49: A book or paper more people should read
1:25:26: Something Elisabeth wishes she'd learnt sooner
1:29:09: Advice for PhD students/postdocs

Podcast links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-pod
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twt

Elisabeth's links

• Website: https://geni.us/bik-web
• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/bik-scholar
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bik-twt

Ben's links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-web
• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholar
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twt

References & links

PubPeer: https://pubpeer.com/
COPE: https://publicationethics.org/
John Maddox Prize: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maddox_Prize
Episode w/ Joe Hilgard: https://geni.us/bjks-hilgard

Bik, Casadevall  & Fang (2016). The prevalence of inappropriate image duplication in biomedical research publications. MBio.
Bik, Costello, Switzer, Callahan, Holmes, Wells, ... & Relman (2016). Marine mammals harbor unique microbiotas shaped by and yet distinct from the sea. Nature Communications.
Brown & Heathers (2017). The GRIM test: A simple technique detects numerous anomalies in the reporting of results in psychology. Social Psychological and Personality Science.
Reich (2009): Plastic fantastic: How the Biggest Fraud in Physics Shook the Scientific