Ghostwriters and commerce of scientific papers on the internet: Science at risk

Abstract

Frauds in scientific production are not a rare phenomenon, even in the medical field. Among these frauds are some types of authorship misconduct, such as plagiarism and ghostwriting sponsored by pharmaceutical industries. Another type of misconduct, which is particularly detrimental to science, is the ecommerce of scientific works, which has been growing and frequently shown in the press. OBJECTIVES.To analyze the e-commerce of scientific papers and the means by which these services are offered. METHODS. Eighteen Brazilian web sites that offer elaboration of scientific papers were selected. A request for the elaboration of a final essay for a forged post-graduatie course was sent to each of them. The research requested had already been completed, consequently technical, ethical and bibliographical characteristics were already known to the author. RESULTS. Ten enterprises accepted the order and, except for one, they have not objected to the conditions imposed: Field research, approval by an ethics committee on research and use of the Vancouver norms. Six have not replied and two have not accepted the order alleging that they had no co-workers available for the task. CONCLUSIONS. E-commerce of scientific papers is a fact which can negatively interfere in the ethical, scientific and professional development of graduate and post-graduate students, as well as in scientific production by adulterating data and information found in literature. A new approach is recommended, especially when evaluating final essays.