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Nature 419, 332-333 (26 September 2002) | doi:10.1038/419332a

Open Innovation Challenges

Scientific misconduct: Sitting in judgement

Erika Check1

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Investigations of scientific misconduct need expert input, but they can prove harrowing experiences for the scientists involved. Erika Check finds out why.

When Jeffrey Flier picked up the telephone on a January day 22 years ago, he was surprised to hear his old supervisor on the end of the line. Jesse Roth was director of the lab at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, where Flier had worked as a postdoc, and he had a favour to ask.