文本选自:The Economist(经济学人)
作者:Unknown
原文标题:There is a worrying amount of fraud in medical research
原文发布时间:27 Feb. 2023
There is a worrying amount of fraud in medical research
In 2011 Ben Mol, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Monash University, in Melbourne, came across a retraction notice for a study on uterine fibroids and infertility published by a researcher in Egypt. The journal which had published it was retracting it because it contained identical numbers to those in an earlier Spanish study—except that that one had been on uterine polyps. The author, it turned out, had simply copied parts of the polyp paper and changed the disease.
"From that moment I was alert," says Dr Mol. And his alertness was not merely as a reader of published papers. He was also, at the time, an editor of the European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and frequently also a peer reviewer for papers submitted to other journals. Sure enough, two papers containing apparently fabricated data soon landed on his desk. He rejected them. But, a year later, he came across them again, except with the fishy data changed, published in another journal.
Since then, he has teamed up with other researchers to investigate groups of papers by authors he has spotted as data fabricators. Wherever he saw smoke, he found fire. There were tables on patients' characteristics that contained only even numbers. There were values that were clinically unlikely. There was an implausible 40:60 sex ratio of babies when the mothers-to-be had, purportedly, been selected at random. Eye-popping speeds of completing clinical trials were common.
医学研究中的欺诈行为令人担忧
精听党背景导读
《知识分子》统计,自2021年6月3日开始,国家卫生健康委员会在其官方网站开设医学科研诚信专栏,迄今已经披露了14批次的调查处理结果,涉及321篇医学论文,论文买卖、代写、代投的144篇,约占44.9%。
同时,据 “网信中国” 公众号2022年7月31日发布的消息,2022年上半年,全国网信系统持续加大网络执法力度、规范网络执法行为,坚决依法查处各类违法违规案件,包括依法关闭 “修改宝网” 、“万三原创网” 、“论文网”、 “创米网络网”、 “毕业设计论文网” 、“日语论文网” 等一批从事有偿论文代写代投非法中介服务网站。
文本选自:The Economist(经济学人)作者:Unknown原文标题:There is a worrying amount of fraud in medical research原文发布时间:27 Feb. 2023关键词:欺诈 医学 研究论文
精听党带着问题听
1.“同卵双胞胎”用英语可以怎么表达?2. 如何理解第二段的“fishy”?3. 在医学研究论文中,有哪些欺诈现象发生?
精听党选段赏析
标题解读
There is a worrying amount of fraud in medical research
医学研究中的欺诈行为令人担忧
worrying adj. 令人担心的;1. worried adj. 感到担忧的;
be worried about 为……而担心,忧虑;
fraud n. 欺诈,骗局,诡计;1. insurance fraud 保险欺诈;诈骗保险金;
段一
In 2011 Ben Mol, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Monash University, in Melbourne, came across a retraction notice for a study on uterine fibroids and infertility published by a researcher in Egypt. The journal which had published it was retracting it because it contained identical numbers to those in an earlier Spanish study—except that that one had been on uterine polyps. The author, it turned out, had simply copied parts of the polyp paper and changed the disease.
obstetrics n. 产科学,助产术;
gynaecology n. 妇科医学;
Melbourne n. 墨尔本(澳大利亚一座城市);
come across 偶遇;无意中发现;1. I came across a group of children playing. 我碰到一群正在玩耍的小孩。
retraction n. 撤回,撤销;收回;1. retract v. 缩回;撤销;收回;
They tried to persuade me to retract my words. 他们试图说服我收回我的话。
uterine fibroids 子宫纤维瘤;子宫肌瘤;1. uterine adj. 子宫的;2. fibroid n.(通常长在子宫壁上的)纤维瘤;
infertility n. 不育症;不孕;1. fertile adj. 肥沃的,富饶的;可繁殖的,能结果的;
identical adj. 完全相同的;同一的;(双胞胎)同卵的;1. identical twins 同卵双胞胎;
uterine polyps 子宫息肉;1. polyp n. 息肉;
参考译文
2011年,墨尔本莫纳什大学(Monash University)的妇产科教授本·摩尔(Ben Mol)偶然看到埃及一名研究人员发表的一项关于子宫肌瘤和不孕症的研究的撤稿通知。发表这篇文章的期刊正在撤回这篇文章,因为它包含了与早先西班牙的一项研究完全相同的数字——除了那篇研究是关于子宫息肉的。事实证明,作者只是简单地复制了息肉论文的部分内容,并把疾病的名字改了下。
段二
“From that moment I was alert,” says Dr Mol. And his alertness was not merely as a reader of published papers. He was also, at the time, an editor of the European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and frequently also a peer reviewer for papers submitted to other journals. Sure enough, two papers containing apparently fabricated data soon landed on his desk. He rejected them. But, a year later, he came across them again, except with the fishy data changed, published in another journal.
alert adj. 警惕的,警觉的;机敏的,敏捷的;1. The alert scientist spotted the identical numbers. 这个警觉的科学家发现了这些相同的数据。2. alertness n. 警戒;机敏;
merely adv. 仅仅,只(用于强调某物小或微不足道);
peer reviewer 同行审稿人;同行评审专家;
apparently adv. 显然地;明显地;1. He paused, apparently lost in thought. 他停顿下来,显然陷入了沉思。
fabricated adj. 编造的;虚构的;1. fabricator n. 捏造者,杜撰者;制作者;
reject vt. 拒绝,否决(提议、建议或请求);1. to reject an argument/a claim/a decision/an offer/a suggestion 拒绝接受一个论点/一项要求/一个决定/一项提议/一个建议;
fishy adj. 可疑的;值得怀疑的;1. There's something fishy going on here. 这儿有点不大对头。
参考译文
摩尔博士说:“从那一刻起,我就警觉起来了。”他的警觉不仅仅是作为一名已发表论文的读者。当时,他还是《欧洲妇产科杂志》(European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology)的编辑,并经常担任其他期刊论文的同行审稿人。果不其然,两份显然含有伪造数据的论文很快就出现在他的办公桌上。他拒绝了这两篇论文。但是,一年后,他再次遇到了这两篇文章,只是可疑的数据被改变了,并且发表在了另一本杂志上。
段三
Since then, he has teamed up with other researchers to investigate groups of papers by authors he has spotted as data fabricators. Wherever he saw smoke, he found fire. There were tables on patients’ characteristics that contained only even numbers. There were values that were clinically unlikely. There was an implausible 40:60 sex ratio of babies when the mothers-to-be had, purportedly, been selected at random. Eye-popping speeds of completing clinical trials were common.
team up with 与……合作,与……协作;
spot vt. 看见,注意到;发现;
table n. 列表,一览表,表格;
characteristic n. 特性,特征;1. dynamic characteristics 动态特性;动态特征;
even numbers 双号;偶数;1. odd numbers 奇数;单号;
clinically adv. 临床上地;
implausible adj. 难以置信的,不像真实的;
sex ratio 性别比率;性别比例;
purportedly adv. 据称,据传;
eye-popping adj. 使人瞠目的;惊人的;
参考译文
从那时起,他就与其他研究人员合作,调查他认为是数据编造者的作者们的论文。无论他在哪里看到烟,他就发现了火。有时候关于患者特征的表格只包含偶数。有时候出现些在临床上不太可能的数值。据称,当准妈妈们被随机挑选时,她们婴儿的性别比例达到了难以置信的40:60。以令人瞠目结舌的速度完成临床试验的情况也很常见。
精听党每日单词
worrying
/ˈwɜːriɪŋ/ adj. 令人担心的;
fraud
/frɔːd/ n. 欺诈,骗局,诡计;
obstetrics
/əbˈstetrɪks/ n. 产科学,助产术;
gynaecology
/ˌɡaɪnəˈkɑːlədʒi/ n. 妇科医学;
Melbourne
/ˈmelbərn/ n. 墨尔本(澳大利亚一座城市);
come across
偶遇;无意中发现;
retraction
/rɪˈtrækʃn/ n. 撤回,撤销;收回;
uterine fibroids
子宫纤维瘤;子宫肌瘤;
infertility
/ˌɪnfɜːrˈtɪləti/ n. 不育症;不孕;
identical
/aɪˈdentɪk(ə)l/ adj. 完全相同的;同一的;(双胞胎)同卵的;
uterine polyps
子宫息肉;
alert
/əˈlɜːrt/ adj. 警惕的,警觉的;机敏的,敏捷的;
merely
/ˈmɪrli/ adv. 仅仅,只(用于强调某物小或微不足道);
peer reviewer
同行审稿人;同行评审专家;
apparently
/əˈpærəntli/ adv. 显然地;明显地;
fabricated
/ˈfæbrɪkeɪtɪd/ adj. 编造的;虚构的;
reject
/rɪˈdʒekt/ vt. 拒绝,否决(提议、建议或请求);
fishy
/ˈfɪʃi/ adj. 可疑的;值得怀疑的;
team up with
与……合作,与……协作;
spot
/spɑːt/ vt. 看见,注意到;发现;
table
/ˈteɪbl/ n. 列表,一览表,表格;
characteristic
/ˌkærəktəˈrɪstɪk/ n. 特性,特征;
even numbers
双号;偶数;
clinically
/ˈklɪnɪkli/ adv. 临床上地;
implausible
/ɪmˈplɔːzəb(ə)l/ adj. 难以置信的,不像真实的;
sex ratio
性别比率;性别比例;
purportedly
/pərˈpɔːrtɪdli/ adv. 据称,据传;
eye-popping
/ˈaɪ pɑːpɪŋ/ adj. 使人瞠目的;惊人的;
精听党文化拓展
医生对病情的过度渲染实则是为了口袋里的利润,某些医生极不情愿为患者开出“有效平价”的治疗方案,放掉利润的医生等于是做了“无用功”,无良医生追求的是治疗利润的“最大化”,而对于患者的康复他们本无兴趣。
对于化疗,20世纪90年代初,亚培尔医生就开始揭开这方面的疮疤。这位学者费时一年,整理了数千件关于化疗的出版物。他语出惊人地表示:“就大部分肿瘤而言,都不存在明显证据能说明化疗(尤其是日益普遍的高剂量治疗)可延长寿命或改变生活品质。”
知名肿瘤学者们都同意以下断言:化疗的推广并不具有遏制作用。或许正因医生们不愿意明白地告诉患者,自己对他们的癌症已束手无策,所以化疗才变成医疗的信条乃至教条。较典型的像是一些病患资讯中所刊载的句子:“新型药物的进一步研发能为肿瘤化疗效果带来持续改良。”
这种所谓一切都能不断改进的印象也在公共舆论中不断强化;医生们口中的症状缓解,患者则理解成延长生命。这样的信条使医生和病人双方皆大欢喜,因为它替所有人保留了希望。妇科医生贾格尔指出:“医生很高兴能提供某些东西,患者也很乐意获得某些东西,而整个医疗产业也‘不言自明’且乐在其中。”
在妇科病中,子宫最常见的切除理由是出现肿瘤。这种绝大多数良性的子宫肌瘤,会在两到三成的妇女身上出现。它通常不会引起痛感,不会被察觉。雌激素(女性荷尔蒙)会助长这种肌瘤。更年期女性身体的雌激素分泌会减少,于是肌瘤就会停止生长,甚至会萎缩。穆勒医生指出,这种正常、良好的自然过程却被药厂推广的荷尔蒙补充疗法中断。“雌激素若持续供应,肌瘤就继续生长,增大到一定大小后,由于疼痛和对临近组织的影响,手术切除子宫也在所难免。”
无效的医疗就靠这种方法开发需求:将更年期过程转化为需要治疗的状态,雌激素治疗提高了子宫切除术的需求。手术量的尽可能增加正是外科医生的意向所在。
精听党每日美句
Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.
人生是一幅大画布,你应该努力绘出绚丽多彩的画面。