[ad_1]
PARIS: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a surge in potentially flawed scientific studies as researchers rush to publish the results without proper oversight, a leading medical ethicist said on Friday (October 2).
Since the novel coronavirus appeared late last year, there have been more than 4,000 academic articles related to the virus, many of which have appeared online without the benefit of a full peer-review process.
In an article in the Journal of Medical Ethics, Katrina Bramstedt, a professor at Bond University School of Health Sciences and Medicine, Queensland, warned that a hasty or inaccurate investigation could put lives at risk.
“Patient harm that is significant, permanent and irreversible could result from the use of faulty research results from preprints and published articles,” he wrote.
At the end of July, there were 19 published articles and 14 preprints – articles that have not yet been peer-reviewed – dealing with COVID-19 that were retracted, withdrawn or tagged with an “expression of concern.”
Most of these occurred in Asia, with China solely responsible for 11 retractions or withdrawals.
One of the most prominent retractions was that of an article published in the prestigious medical journal Lancet on the efficacy of treating COVID-19 patients with the arthritis drug hydroxychloroquine.
The research, published in May, led the World Health Organization to halt its trials of hydroxychloroquine after results suggested the drug had no positive effects on hospitalized people and, in fact, could increase the likelihood of death.
The study was withdrawn after a group of experts raised “both methodological and data integrity concerns” about it.
In September, The Lancet said it had strengthened its peer review system to ensure that at least one reviewer was an expert in the research area in question.
Another study, also in The Lancet, on a possible Russian vaccine raised concern among Western scientists over a lack of safety data.
An open letter signed by more than 30 European-based experts last month cast doubt on the Russian findings, pointing to potentially duplicate data.
The Lancet has sought clarification from the authors in Russia.
PUBLISH ‘PRINT’
Bramstedt said scientists were under increased pressure to take research out into the public sphere as the world raced toward effective COVID-19 treatments and vaccines.
“Research normally occurs at the speed of a marathon, but during a pandemic, the pace is more like a sprint,” he wrote.
She said the pandemic had created a “surge” of manuscripts, something that the fleet of journal reviewers was struggling to keep up with.
“No research team is exempt from the pressures and speed at which the COVID-19 investigation is occurring,” Bramstedt said.
“And this can increase the risk of honest error as well as deliberate misconduct.”
CHECK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
