The Duke University scandal - What can be done?

摘要

Purpose: To highlight the importance of establishing the reproducibility of findings of clinical research. Summary: Clinical research is often conducted to find solution to the prevailing problems related to a particular disease, such as cancer. Patients are subjected to clinical tests and the test results are analyzed before revealing the findings for practical use. At times such findings are reported as research outcomes and get published in leading research journals. In this article, it is discussed about the pros and cons of a research work published by a researcher of the Duke University. Though the work is claimed to be as a grand success, the same has been criticized by other researchers for its lack of reproducibility. Its statistical worthiness is also questioned. Terming this as the Duke University Scandal, suggestions are given for what can be done to overcome such problems. The lesions learned from the practice of the Duke University have revealed answers for many questions.