Fake Scientific Research Now at Epidemic Levels
Bogus research is especially
prominent in attempts to
push Darwinian evolution
by Jerry Bergman, PhD
A major problem in science is the problem of fraudulent scientific studies.[1] The fact is “Numerous recent scientific and journalistic investigations demonstrate that systematic scientific fraud is a growing threat to the scientific enterprise.”[2]
A new study finds that fake scientific research is a far larger problem than can be handled by retracting each faulty paper separately.[3] A team led by scientists from Northwestern University analyzed millions of papers published in recent years and uncovered evidence of widespread, coordinated fraud.
The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly.
They described how scientists bribed editors, flooded existing publications with fake submissions, and even published sham journals. The title of their study serves as a dire warning: “The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly.”[4] This 2025 report found clear evidence that coordinated scientific fraud activities have increased during the last decade.
“This study is probably the most depressing project I’ve been involved with in my entire life,” one co-author of the study, Luís A. Nunes Amaral, commented. “But if you believe that science is useful and important for humanity, then you have to fight for it.”
The study was directed by Reese Richardson, a postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Science of Science and Innovation. Some of the findings include the following:
NIH reported that 0.2% of mid-career researchers and 0.5% of early-career researchers admitted to falsifying research data in the previous three years. A systematic analysis of more than 20,000 articles published between 1995 and 2014 reported that 3.8% of these articles contained inappropriately duplicated images, with at least half of these cases suggestive of deliberate manipulation…. In a 2022–2023 survey of medical residents at tertiary hospitals in southwest China, 46.7% of respondents self-reported buying and selling papers, letting other people write papers, or writing papers for others. Some publishers report that up to 1 in 7 of their submissions are of probable “paper mill provenance.” Agents for paper mills have also recently been reported to attempt to bribe journal editors and to “hijack” the entire editorial processes at some journals.[5]
In his 2024 book, Professor Gowan Dawson documents the fraud in each example used in the iconic evolutionary illustration called “The Progression”, which purported to show the ape-to-human evolutionary transition.
One gauge of the enormity of the problem is there are now more than 60,000 COVID-19 retractions in the Retraction Watch Database. A retraction means that a published paper is flawed to the extent that their results and conclusions can no longer be relied upon.
Retracted articles are normally not removed from the published literature unless the article is clearly defamatory, violates personal privacy, is the subject of a court order, or could pose a serious health risk to the general public. Retractions are usually accompanied by a notice written by the editors or authors explaining the reasons for the retraction. The majority of retractions are linked to scientific misconduct, especially fraud. Minor mistakes or errors are not a justification for retractions; only major problems that negate the major conclusions of the research are.
The Human Evolution Progression Fraud
An excellent example of fraud is papers that were very effective in convincing the general public of the validity of the evolution of modern humans from some pre-human creature. In 2024, a book was published to expose the deceptive iconic evolutionary illustration known as “The Progression” and debunk the fraudulent monkey-to-human evolutionary narrative it promotes.
This book, written by University of Leicester Professor Gowan Dawson, examines the origins and history of this ubiquitous and hugely consequential iconic illustration from ape to man. It was central in convincing millions to accept human evolution.[6] It shows that “The Progression” illustration was based on a long line of now-disproven and imaginary “missing links.”
The key takeaway of this book is how, for over 150 years, “The Progression” was used to fool the public and to promote the flawed narrative of human evolution. Dawson’s documentation, covering from page 317 to page 358 in his book, is very thorough and impressive.
Another example of the Progression from Wikimedia commons.
It turns out that scientific fraud is especially a problem in the area of evolution.[7] Many examples of this exist, but a few of the better-known examples include the Piltdown hoax,[8] Archaeoraptor,[9] Biston betularia (the peppered moth),[10] the midwife toad,[11] Haeckel’s embryos,[12] Ancon sheep,[13] Bathybius haeckeli (merely a precipitation product)14 and Hesperopithecus haroldcookii (Nebraska Man),[14] and the Tasaday Indians.[15]
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Conclusions
Scientists are increasingly realizing that fraud is a serious problem which must be dealt with to enable science to achieve the credibility required to be a driving force in society today.[16] A long history of fraud exists, especially in efforts to prove human evolution. The motivations are probably many, but in the cases cited above, as well as in many other cases, the motivation seems to have been to promote, or at least to provide evidence that seems to support evolution.
References
Dr Bergman’s book goes into detail on numerous frauds and hoaxes that were promoted by scientists and the media to promote Darwinian evolution.
[1] Bergman, Jerry, “Why the epidemic of fraud exists in science today, Journal of Creation 18(3):104–109, https://creation.com/science-fraud-epidemic, December 2004.
[2] Richardson, Reese, et al.. “The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly,” PNAS 122(32): e2420092122, https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas, 4 August 2025.
[3] Reese, et al., 2025.
[4] Reese, et al., 2025.
[5] Reese, et al., 2025.
[6] Dawson, Gowan, Monkey to Man: The Evolution of the March of Progress Image, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2024.
[7] Roman, M., “When good scientists turn bad,” Discover 9(4):50–58, p. 58, 1988.
[8] Miller, R., The Piltdown Men, St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY, 1972.
[9] Simons, L.M., “Archaeoraptor fossil trail,” National Geographic 198(4):128–132, 2000.
[10] Hooper, J., An Evolutionary Tale of Moths and Men: The Untold Story of Science and the Peppered Moth, W.W. Norton, New York, NY, 2002.
[11] Koestler, A., The Case of the Midwife Toad, Random House, New York, NY, 1972.
[12] Pennisi, E., “Haeckel’s embryos: Fraud rediscovered,” Science 277:1435, 1997.
[13] Bergman, J., “Ancon sheep: Just another loss mutation,” TJ 17(1):18–19, 2002.
[14] “The History of Hesperopithecus haroldcookii hominidae,” CRSQ 30(1):27-34, June 1993. Reprinted in Investigator 30(1): 27-34, 1995.
[15] Bergman, J., “The Tasaday Stone Age people hoax,” Journal of Creation 35(1):32-34, 2020.
[16] Abbott, A., “Science comes to terms with the lessons of fraud,” Nature 398:13–17, p. 13, 1999.
Dr. Jerry Bergman has taught biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology for over 40 years at several colleges and universities including Bowling Green State University, Medical College of Ohio where he was a research associate in experimental pathology, and The University of Toledo. He is a graduate of the Medical College of Ohio, Wayne State University in Detroit, the University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University. He has over 1,900 publications in 14 languages and 40 books and monographs. His books and textbooks that include chapters that he authored are in over 1,800 college libraries in 27 countries. So far over 80,000 copies of the 60 books and monographs that he has authored or co-authored are in print. For more articles by Dr Bergman, see his Author Profile.