Reliability problems detected in hundreds of studies on a type of stroke in animal models
While preparing a systematic review of animal studies on subarachnoid hemorrhage —a particular type of stroke— a Dutch team detected suspicious images and redirected their research: they analyzed 608 publications considered relevant, looking for potential problems with their results. Their findings indicate that 243 (40%) contained duplicate or potentially manipulated images, raising doubts about their reliability. The vast majority (87%) originated in China, and only 22% had been corrected. According to the researchers, these findings “could explain why, despite hundreds of animal studies published in this field, we still lack effective treatments for early brain injury in patients with hemorrhagic stroke”. The results are published in Plos Biology.
Urra - Fraude (EN)
Xabier Urra
Head of the Neurology Department at the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona
This is a high-quality study. It is an observational and descriptive review of publications in the field of basic research on subarachnoid hemorrhage. It detects a significant percentage of articles (around 40%) with duplicate images within the same publication, repeated in different studies, or with other errors that suggest a lack of rigor or even possible fraud. The methodology used to identify and classify these cases is described in detail, and the authors acknowledge the inherent limitations of the analysis, which likely underestimates the true extent of the problem.
These findings call into question the validity of a substantial portion of the scientific literature. In recent decades, the number of published articles has grown exponentially, but many do not provide solid knowledge or contribute significantly to biomedical advancement or the development of effective treatments.
[Regarding potential limitations] The study focuses exclusively on experimental, not clinical, studies, so it is unknown whether the frequency of errors is comparable in clinical research. However, the authors mention that similar methodological problems have been described in other areas, including research with patients.
Aquarius et al.
- Research article
- Peer reviewed
- Animals
