Responding to fraud.

Our journal—as well as science with a small " s " —went through a disappointing and troubling experience with the two stem cell papers from the South Korean research group led by Dr. Woo Suk Hwang. As a result of an investigation by a committee from, published a year later, was retracted for the same reasons. What Science did then entailed two steps. First, we compiled a chronological anthology of the editorial review process for both papers; it included all submissions; correspondence among editors, our Board of Reviewing Editors, peer reviewers, authors, and agencies responsible for regulatory oversight in South Korea; and notes on telephone conversations. This material was reviewed by an internal review committee of six in-house editors. This archive and their comments were then sent to an outside committee consisting of three members of our external Senior Editorial Board (John Brauman, George Whitesides, and Linda Partridge), a former Science senior editor who is now the U.S. Executive Editor at Nature (Linda Miller), and two distinguished biologists who work in the stem cell community (Doug Melton and John Gearhart). The committee was asked to make a thorough and unsparing analysis of Science's handling of both papers and to make recommendations for changes in procedure that might protect both the journal and the scientific community from further unfortunate outcomes of this kind. The report is notable for its thoroughness, insight, and candor. It reaches several conclusions; some of these apply to our journal and to those of us who edit and publish it, and others are relevant for the larger community of scientists. The good news for Science is that its editors and peer reviewers not only followed the procedures in place here and at other top-tier journals, but made a substantially greater effort than for most papers to ensure that the science was sound. The not-so-good news is that the report sends us some tough messages about what Science should do to confront a present reality and prepare for a more challenging future. It points out forcefully that the environment for science now presents increased incentives for the production of work that is intentionally misleading or distorted by self-interest. It urges us to give special attention to a relatively small number of papers that are likely to be especially visible or influential. We are now formulating ways to respond to this advice. The report recommends developing a risk assessment …