Elisabeth Bik
@elisabethbik.bsky.social
Science integrity consultant, PhD.
Ex-Stanford University. Maddox Prize/Einstein F Award winner
NL/USA/SFO.
#ImageForensics #Sleuthmaxxing
@MicrobiomDigest on X.
ScienceIntegrityDigest.com
Support me: https://www.patreon.com/elisabethbik
Ex-Stanford University. Maddox Prize/Einstein F Award winner
NL/USA/SFO.
#ImageForensics #Sleuthmaxxing
@MicrobiomDigest on X.
ScienceIntegrityDigest.com
Support me: https://www.patreon.com/elisabethbik
Pinned
Elisabeth Bik
@elisabethbik.bsky.social
· Aug 25
www.facebook.com
'Elisabeth Bik is a Dutch microbiologist. [...]
Then she opened a PhD thesis that had lifted text from somewhere else, and her eye caught something different.
A duplicated image.
She sat down and went through 20,621 published biomedical papers. By eye.'
www.facebook.com/WeirdbutTrue...
Then she opened a PhD thesis that had lifted text from somewhere else, and her eye caught something different.
A duplicated image.
She sat down and went through 20,621 published biomedical papers. By eye.'
www.facebook.com/WeirdbutTrue...
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
🚀 A new #MVIFconversations episode drops this Monday, stay tuned!
Until then, catch up on Episode 7 with @elisabethbik.bsky.social and get ready!
#podcast #microbiome #science
Until then, catch up on Episode 7 with @elisabethbik.bsky.social and get ready!
#podcast #microbiome #science
#MVIFconversations podcast episode 7 with @elisabethbik.bsky.social is OUT!
▶️ Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5YcW...
▶️ Amazon music: music.amazon.com/podcasts/81c...
▶️ Apple Music: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
▶️ YouTube podcast: youtu.be/7-4QeEz2fyc?...
1/2
▶️ Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5YcW...
▶️ Amazon music: music.amazon.com/podcasts/81c...
▶️ Apple Music: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
▶️ YouTube podcast: youtu.be/7-4QeEz2fyc?...
1/2
open.spotify.com
October 22, 2026 at 11:09 AM
🚀 A new #MVIFconversations episode drops this Monday, stay tuned!
Until then, catch up on Episode 7 with @elisabethbik.bsky.social and get ready!
#podcast #microbiome #science
Until then, catch up on Episode 7 with @elisabethbik.bsky.social and get ready!
#podcast #microbiome #science
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
@pubpeer.bsky.social In which research fraudsters learn to erase the "generated by AI" watermark from their fabricated results.
pubpeer.com/publications...
pubpeer.com/publications...
October 23, 2026 at 6:57 PM
@pubpeer.bsky.social In which research fraudsters learn to erase the "generated by AI" watermark from their fabricated results.
pubpeer.com/publications...
pubpeer.com/publications...
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
Ok, I was skeptical that this would work, so I did some digging as well. And yes, I'm somehow impressed. I replicate all the 16 @atinygreencell.bsky.social designs not using openscad, but Fusion MCP (deepseek control directly Fusion). All of them worked, but didn't check the correctness. 1/n
October 23, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Ok, I was skeptical that this would work, so I did some digging as well. And yes, I'm somehow impressed. I replicate all the 16 @atinygreencell.bsky.social designs not using openscad, but Fusion MCP (deepseek control directly Fusion). All of them worked, but didn't check the correctness. 1/n
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
Another surprising "seed-42 coincidence"
We were reading this: doi.org/10.1057/s415...
and noted a mistmatch of data in Fig2 with reported stats (e.g. the SD of x-coordinates for blue crosses cannot be 30 as reported).
We extracted the plotted points to investigate...
#psychscisky #science
We were reading this: doi.org/10.1057/s415...
and noted a mistmatch of data in Fig2 with reported stats (e.g. the SD of x-coordinates for blue crosses cannot be 30 as reported).
We extracted the plotted points to investigate...
#psychscisky #science
October 23, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Another surprising "seed-42 coincidence"
We were reading this: doi.org/10.1057/s415...
and noted a mistmatch of data in Fig2 with reported stats (e.g. the SD of x-coordinates for blue crosses cannot be 30 as reported).
We extracted the plotted points to investigate...
#psychscisky #science
We were reading this: doi.org/10.1057/s415...
and noted a mistmatch of data in Fig2 with reported stats (e.g. the SD of x-coordinates for blue crosses cannot be 30 as reported).
We extracted the plotted points to investigate...
#psychscisky #science
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
New post! In which I discuss a truly amazing piece of science sleuthing that recently appeared on @pubpeer.com neuroskepticbsky.substack.com/p/the-sherlo...
The Sherlock Holmes of Science Sleuths?
How an anonymous poster cracked the case of the random data
neuroskepticbsky.substack.com
October 18, 2026 at 12:22 PM
New post! In which I discuss a truly amazing piece of science sleuthing that recently appeared on @pubpeer.com neuroskepticbsky.substack.com/p/the-sherlo...
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
The values share all the digits, but are offset by exactly a number between 3 and 3.5. Very strange, but this doesn't look like someone one would expect from qPCR data:
Sun et al. 2025 (DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf160), the ISME Journal. pubpeer.com/publications...
Sun et al. 2025 (DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf160), the ISME Journal. pubpeer.com/publications...
October 20, 2026 at 8:43 PM
The values share all the digits, but are offset by exactly a number between 3 and 3.5. Very strange, but this doesn't look like someone one would expect from qPCR data:
Sun et al. 2025 (DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf160), the ISME Journal. pubpeer.com/publications...
Sun et al. 2025 (DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf160), the ISME Journal. pubpeer.com/publications...
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
Today I'm posting a new video to my YouTube channel! I am revisiting the story of Sam S. Yoon who was a top cancer surgeon in New York. My investigation led to the retraction of twenty cancer research papers: youtu.be/hWKvLAM7QNI
My Investigation Led to Twenty Retracted Papers for Top Cancer Surgeon
YouTube video by Sholto David
youtu.be
October 11, 2026 at 11:48 AM
Today I'm posting a new video to my YouTube channel! I am revisiting the story of Sam S. Yoon who was a top cancer surgeon in New York. My investigation led to the retraction of twenty cancer research papers: youtu.be/hWKvLAM7QNI
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
If you call Retraction Watch an “anti-science website” you’ve really lost the plot. Or you are desperate to cover something up.
October 9, 2026 at 6:09 AM
If you call Retraction Watch an “anti-science website” you’ve really lost the plot. Or you are desperate to cover something up.
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
Our reflections on the recent "AI and Research Integrity" meeting in Montreal:
We are somewhat worried that many AI trustworthiness assessment tools are not trustworthy.
@lhdjung.bsky.social
@jamiecummins.bsky.social
trustworthy.scientific.claims/posts/trustw...
We are somewhat worried that many AI trustworthiness assessment tools are not trustworthy.
@lhdjung.bsky.social
@jamiecummins.bsky.social
trustworthy.scientific.claims/posts/trustw...
Trustworthiness assessment tools must be trustworthy
trustworthy.scientific.claims
October 9, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Our reflections on the recent "AI and Research Integrity" meeting in Montreal:
We are somewhat worried that many AI trustworthiness assessment tools are not trustworthy.
@lhdjung.bsky.social
@jamiecummins.bsky.social
trustworthy.scientific.claims/posts/trustw...
We are somewhat worried that many AI trustworthiness assessment tools are not trustworthy.
@lhdjung.bsky.social
@jamiecummins.bsky.social
trustworthy.scientific.claims/posts/trustw...
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
@elisabethbik.bsky.social Nu ook aandacht in De Volkskrant voor de fraude van Griep. www.volkskrant.nl/wetenschap/v...
Vijftien jaar na de affaire-Stapel is er weer een sjoemelwetenschapper gepakt: ‘Ik ben niet eerder zo’n grote casus tegengekomen’
Een voormalige hoofddocent van de Radboud Universiteit lapte jarenlang wetenschappelijke regels aan zijn laars. Dat bleef lang onopgemerkt. Aan de hand van zijn zaak blijkt waarom gesjoemel in de wete...
www.volkskrant.nl
October 1, 2026 at 7:58 PM
@elisabethbik.bsky.social Nu ook aandacht in De Volkskrant voor de fraude van Griep. www.volkskrant.nl/wetenschap/v...
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
I've found my own @elisabethbik.bsky.social -esque image duplication problem, but it's in someone's PhD thesis and it's probably an honest mistake.
Still, I'm excited to spot it myself
Still, I'm excited to spot it myself
October 6, 2026 at 9:25 PM
I've found my own @elisabethbik.bsky.social -esque image duplication problem, but it's in someone's PhD thesis and it's probably an honest mistake.
Still, I'm excited to spot it myself
Still, I'm excited to spot it myself
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
That a Nobel Prize winner has an ego so fragile he can't imagine his papers might contain errors (or worse), and instead attacks those who find them, says it all. If he can't handle scrutiny, who can?
forbetterscience.com/2023/10/04/t...
forbetterscience.com/2023/10/04/t...
Thomas Südhof and the standards of scientific rigor
Maarten van Kampen’s second attempt at hounding of Nobel papers.
forbetterscience.com
October 8, 2026 at 5:24 AM
That a Nobel Prize winner has an ego so fragile he can't imagine his papers might contain errors (or worse), and instead attacks those who find them, says it all. If he can't handle scrutiny, who can?
forbetterscience.com/2023/10/04/t...
forbetterscience.com/2023/10/04/t...
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
The Nobel Prize Whiner went on stage to complain about @pubpeer.com, @retractionwatch.com, @forbetterscience.bsky.social, and @elisabethbik.bsky.social... all living rent free in his head.
Is there something about winning a Nobel Prize that makes some laureates embrace increasingly kooky ideas?
Is there something about winning a Nobel Prize that makes some laureates embrace increasingly kooky ideas?
October 8, 2026 at 1:53 AM
The Nobel Prize Whiner went on stage to complain about @pubpeer.com, @retractionwatch.com, @forbetterscience.bsky.social, and @elisabethbik.bsky.social... all living rent free in his head.
Is there something about winning a Nobel Prize that makes some laureates embrace increasingly kooky ideas?
Is there something about winning a Nobel Prize that makes some laureates embrace increasingly kooky ideas?
Boot Camp Promises a Submitted Paper in Just 2 Days— Critics worry AI-aided program enables shoddy research
"Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in 1 Weekend"
@rachrobertson.bsky.social reports @medpagetoday.com
Quotes by Matt Spick, @gidmk.bsky.social, and me.
www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...
"Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in 1 Weekend"
@rachrobertson.bsky.social reports @medpagetoday.com
Quotes by Matt Spick, @gidmk.bsky.social, and me.
www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...
Boot Camp Promises a Submitted Paper in Just 2 Days
Critics worry AI-aided program enables shoddy research
www.medpagetoday.com
September 29, 2026 at 5:09 PM
Boot Camp Promises a Submitted Paper in Just 2 Days— Critics worry AI-aided program enables shoddy research
"Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in 1 Weekend"
@rachrobertson.bsky.social reports @medpagetoday.com
Quotes by Matt Spick, @gidmk.bsky.social, and me.
www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...
"Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in 1 Weekend"
@rachrobertson.bsky.social reports @medpagetoday.com
Quotes by Matt Spick, @gidmk.bsky.social, and me.
www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...
Is AI Flooding Medical Journals With 'Meaningless' Research?
With some quotes by Ivan Oransky, Elena Vicario, and me:
"We are at a point now that we cannot distinguish fake from real," said Elisabeth Bik
By @rachrobertson.bsky.social @medpagetoday.com
www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...
With some quotes by Ivan Oransky, Elena Vicario, and me:
"We are at a point now that we cannot distinguish fake from real," said Elisabeth Bik
By @rachrobertson.bsky.social @medpagetoday.com
www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...
Is AI Flooding Medical Journals With 'Meaningless' Research?
'It's not fraudulent, and it's not really slop,' one expert says
www.medpagetoday.com
September 25, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Is AI Flooding Medical Journals With 'Meaningless' Research?
With some quotes by Ivan Oransky, Elena Vicario, and me:
"We are at a point now that we cannot distinguish fake from real," said Elisabeth Bik
By @rachrobertson.bsky.social @medpagetoday.com
www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...
With some quotes by Ivan Oransky, Elena Vicario, and me:
"We are at a point now that we cannot distinguish fake from real," said Elisabeth Bik
By @rachrobertson.bsky.social @medpagetoday.com
www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
found at ucsf
September 17, 2026 at 1:05 PM
found at ucsf
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro.... This is well worth a listen -- @rnz.co.nz.web.brid.gy interview of @elisabethbik.bsky.social
Detecting Fraud in Scientific Literature
It turns out not all heroes wear capes, some wear lab coats! In an age where facts seem debatable and the truth can be so easily manipulated, one woman is on a mission to root out mistakes, fraud, and...
www.rnz.co.nz
September 17, 2026 at 6:31 AM
www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro.... This is well worth a listen -- @rnz.co.nz.web.brid.gy interview of @elisabethbik.bsky.social
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
‘I don’t know how they’ll rebuild trust. I hope there will be some lawsuit, I’m not a fan of suing people in general but this is a big scandal,’ says Elisabeth Bik.
#ChemSky @elisabethbik.bsky.social @reeserichardson.bsky.social @sholtodavid.bsky.social
www.chemistryworld.com/news/antibod...
#ChemSky @elisabethbik.bsky.social @reeserichardson.bsky.social @sholtodavid.bsky.social
www.chemistryworld.com/news/antibod...
Antibody data manipulation extends to thousands of images across 15 suppliers
Sleuths discover widespread, systematic alteration of Western blots and other antibody data
www.chemistryworld.com
September 17, 2026 at 7:54 AM
‘I don’t know how they’ll rebuild trust. I hope there will be some lawsuit, I’m not a fan of suing people in general but this is a big scandal,’ says Elisabeth Bik.
#ChemSky @elisabethbik.bsky.social @reeserichardson.bsky.social @sholtodavid.bsky.social
www.chemistryworld.com/news/antibod...
#ChemSky @elisabethbik.bsky.social @reeserichardson.bsky.social @sholtodavid.bsky.social
www.chemistryworld.com/news/antibod...
Looking forward to speaking tonight with Aaron Panofsky at the joint BeSHG/NVHG (the Dutch and Belgian Societies for Human Genetics) meeting at De Doelen in Rotterdam.
www.nvhg.nl/general-info...
www.nvhg.nl/general-info...
September 17, 2026 at 12:35 PM
Looking forward to speaking tonight with Aaron Panofsky at the joint BeSHG/NVHG (the Dutch and Belgian Societies for Human Genetics) meeting at De Doelen in Rotterdam.
www.nvhg.nl/general-info...
www.nvhg.nl/general-info...
Minutes for some, seconds for others.
My latest LinkedIn post about the frustration of participating in a meeting with some Strong Speakers.
www.linkedin.com/posts/elisab...
My latest LinkedIn post about the frustration of participating in a meeting with some Strong Speakers.
www.linkedin.com/posts/elisab...
Recently, I was at a small workshop with around 15 men and only one other woman.
I noticed how hard it was for some of us to say something. A couple of men had strong voices. They could easily talk… ...
Recently, I was at a small workshop with around 15 men and only one other woman.
I noticed how hard it was for some of us to say something. A couple of men had strong voices. They could easily talk f...
www.linkedin.com
September 10, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Minutes for some, seconds for others.
My latest LinkedIn post about the frustration of participating in a meeting with some Strong Speakers.
www.linkedin.com/posts/elisab...
My latest LinkedIn post about the frustration of participating in a meeting with some Strong Speakers.
www.linkedin.com/posts/elisab...
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
0.5 % is well below @elisabethbik.bsky.social's 2016 finding of 3.8% in biomedical papers (journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...). Most likely we are not catching a lot. I'll be iterating on the system to try to improve it. We plan to eventually open source it so people can use it themselves! (3/3)
September 9, 2026 at 5:22 PM
0.5 % is well below @elisabethbik.bsky.social's 2016 finding of 3.8% in biomedical papers (journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...). Most likely we are not catching a lot. I'll be iterating on the system to try to improve it. We plan to eventually open source it so people can use it themselves! (3/3)
Lisa Weitemeier, Lea Wolz, and Lara Schwenner researched paper mills for this ARD/Studio Q documentary.
#PaperMills
#ResearchIntegrity
#PaperMills
#ResearchIntegrity
Shout out an meine Kolleginnen Lisa Weitemeier, Lea Wolz und Lara Schwenner, die an dieser wichtigen Recherche zu Paper Mills viele Monate gearbeitet haben:
youtu.be/Ub2eY8EhTEU?...
youtu.be/Ub2eY8EhTEU?...
Dieses Experiment hat (leider) funktioniert … | Studio Q
YouTube video by Quarks
youtu.be
September 10, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Lisa Weitemeier, Lea Wolz, and Lara Schwenner researched paper mills for this ARD/Studio Q documentary.
#PaperMills
#ResearchIntegrity
#PaperMills
#ResearchIntegrity
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
Congratulations to Elsevier on this insanity my colleague found.
Is anything in this clinical trial from Spain and UK real?
www.cell.com/the-innovati...
Is anything in this clinical trial from Spain and UK real?
www.cell.com/the-innovati...
Quantum evidence of nonlocal consciousness during clinical death
If consciousness can operate under quantum principles, then the boundaries between
life, death, and cognition are far more permeable than current science allows. In
the first large-scale, randomized, ...
www.cell.com
September 10, 2026 at 6:26 AM
Congratulations to Elsevier on this insanity my colleague found.
Is anything in this clinical trial from Spain and UK real?
www.cell.com/the-innovati...
Is anything in this clinical trial from Spain and UK real?
www.cell.com/the-innovati...
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
Hilarious stuff from hypocrite-in-chief Bill Ackman, currently bankrolling Francesca Gino, who has *check notes* sued three brave scholars for telling the truth.
September 8, 2026 at 2:57 AM
Hilarious stuff from hypocrite-in-chief Bill Ackman, currently bankrolling Francesca Gino, who has *check notes* sued three brave scholars for telling the truth.
Reposted by Elisabeth Bik
A psychology journal has retracted a seminal 2002 paper on deadlines and procrastination coauthored by behavioral scientist Dan Ariely of Duke University just days after a team of sleuths published analyses of the original study data, finding it had been tampered with.
Procrastination study by Duke’s Dan Ariely retracted after sleuths find signs of data tampering
A psychology journal has retracted a seminal 2002 paper on deadlines and procrastination coauthored by behavioral scientist Dan Ariely of Duke University just days after a team of sleuths published…
retractionwatch.com
September 3, 2026 at 11:50 PM
A psychology journal has retracted a seminal 2002 paper on deadlines and procrastination coauthored by behavioral scientist Dan Ariely of Duke University just days after a team of sleuths published analyses of the original study data, finding it had been tampered with.