Dan Larhammar, professor of molecular cell biology at Uppsala University
Several cases of research fraud have been exposed during the past several years
with Andrew Wakefield’s measles vaccine accusations and Paolo Macchiarini’s
airway transplants receiving extensive media coverage. Why do researchers
cheat when the likelihood of being revealed is so high? Another problematic re-
cent development is the multitude of ’parasitic’ scienti c journals that published
virtually any research report as long as they get payed. Even coauthorships can
be purchased. Researchers need to be aware of changing journal landscape.
Dan Larhammar is professor of molecular cell biology at Uppsala University.
His research concerns neurobiology and evolution. One of his main interests is
the distinction between science and pseudoscience. He was a member of the Swe-
dish Research Council’s (VR) Expert Group on Research Misconduct for eight
years. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences since 2007.