Scientific Misconduct, Scientific Fraud and Dishonest Scientific Report

Pursuant to the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Research Misconduct is defined as Data Fabrication, Data Falsification and Plagiarism in proposing, performing or reviewing research, or in reporting research results [1]. The ORI further defines what constitutes Data Fabrication, Data Falsification and Plagiarism [1]. However, as admitted by the ORI, it is clear that the definition of Research Misconduct is a very narrow interpretation of what exactly constitutes Research Misconduct. The term “Research Misconduct” is an unfortunate one as it is not a specific term and it engenders diffusion and confusion. Does the ORI applies the term “Research Misconduct” in the scientific area only or also to literary area also. Scientific Research deals with concrete facts and there is no room for metal acrobatics whereas Literary Research deals with all kind of facts and fiction, including science fiction. This author prefers the term “Scientific Misconduct” as it specifies that one is dealing with Scientific Research Misconduct and not Literary Research Misconduct.