Research culture: Watching over academia

Opinions differ on whether the UK needs an independent research integrity regulator

In 1998, Andrew Wakefield published a paper falsely linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism. It resulted in a sharp decline in vaccination uptake and disease outbreaks across the world. 

Later described by researchers looking into the scandal as the “most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years”, the Wakefield case is perhaps the most well-known example of research misconduct in the UK.