Q&A: Fake Scientific Data Crusader Says Journal Editors Need More Spine

On Nov. 13, Elizabeth Bik, a microbiologist and former associate researcher at Stanford University, raised questions about data presented in a number of academic papers. All of them were either authored by or came from labs run by Cao Xuetao, an immunologist and the president of Tianjin’s prestigious Nankai University. Over the last week, the number of papers flagged by Bik and others has hit 60.