Reading between the lines: Can peer reviewers be expected to detect fraud?

Abstract

Fraud in science can potentially cause devastating harm to all stakeholders in the scientific process, including individuals, journals, research institutions, government agencies, corporations, and ultimately patients. Peer review plays a pivotal role in the scientific publication process; it serves as a stamp of legitimacy for published scientific papers, and helps journals identify papers that are of high quality and of interest for publication. But can the peer review process serve as a systematic fraud detection mechanism in scientific papers? Here, the authors explore this possibility through a series of hypothetical case studies. After analysis, the authors conclude that while the peer review process is an essential part of scientific publication, it lacks efficacy in policing science papers for fraud, and that other methods may serve this purpose better.