July 22, 2005

Bad Practices in Science

To the Editor:

The study reported in your June 17 issue states that a third of the more than 3,000 researchers surveyed had committed at least one of the top 10 misbehaviors ("Scientific Misbehavior Is Rampant, Study of 3,000 Researchers Finds," The Chronicle). If the study had included an 11th misbehavior, the proportion would have been much higher. Richard P. Feynman, a Nobel laureate in physics, called that misbehavior "cargo cult science," or going through the motions. He was