Unfortunately, both can be career killers, if two recent cases are taken as examples. And although fraudsters aren’t welcome, the loss of the innocent overwhelmed is taking a toll on science.
Case one: Sergio Gonzalez, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier, France. He was hitting the job market in 2015, and he knew he needed a paper in a top journal to stand out in that market.
So he was relieved — elated, perhaps — when editors at the Journal of Clinical Investigation, one of the world’s most prestigious journals, told him they’d be publishing one of his papers. Having an article accepted there would carry a lot of weight on a job application — and in France’s system, success on that application meant a permanent job.
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