An anonymous study at the institute where I am revealed that 10% (IIRC) of scientists confessed to perpetrating a "serious misdemeanor". My feeling is that the

An anonymous study at the institute where I am revealed that 10% (IIRC) of scientists confessed to perpetrating a "serious misdemeanor". My feeling is that the situation is not much different now from, say, in the 18th century. Some day, we'll be able to do formal reasoning on the data and findings of researchers, and we'll spot [some] mistakes and contradictions automatically. Until then, peer-review is the best we can do, and its emphasis is much more on form than content.