Recently, Brooklyn-based freelance journalist Vince Bielke wrote a three-part series at Real Clear Investigations about the damage that fraudulent papers are doing to science. It seems increasingly clear that the current gatekeepers of science are either helpless to do anything about it or appear to be indifferent or, in a few cases, actively co-operating. Image Credit: iQoncept – Adobe Stock Massive increase in retractions In the first part, he starts on a positive note, profiling bogus science hunters: Molecular biologist Mike Rossner, who has committed his life to following the science, now finds himself playing an unexpected if urgent role – exposing the fraud of his fellow scientists. Rossner is part of a network of experts that sniff out researchers who intentionally or recklessly fabricate, falsify, or plagiarize evidence. Rossner, a consultant specializing in identifying manipulated and duplicated images in journal papers – a telltale sign of deceit – has been dismayed by his findings at U.S. research centers. Scientists often have deleted the data underlying the images, making misconduct harder to prove and casting …