9.7 Deter, detect and punish scientific fraud and manipulation

Most of us are consumers of science. Even experts struggle to keep up with the state of New Magna Carta Mediumknowledge in their own subject, let alone other fields. We are dependent upon scientists and those who interpret science to tell us what we need to know. Scientists must be held to the highest standards of scientific rigour and integrity. As human beings, scientists are fallible. Not only can they make mistakes and fall short on scientific discipline and rigour, they can also be subject to the systematic bias of groupthink and the temptations of money, power and status. Statistics and science are routinely manipulated by politicians and companies to bend us to their way of thinking. We must therefore rigorously deter, detect and punish scientific fraud and manipulation.