Fabrication

The first of the FFP trifecta is Fabrication.

In the ALLEA code this is defined as: “making up results and recording them as if they were real” (ALLEA, 2017, p. 8). 

On the scale of severity, fabrication is amongst the worst behaviors in science (Steneck, 2006). 

The main dangerous consequence of fabrication is that erroneous results can enter the scientific literature. This can, not only, result in a waste of time and resources in consecutive research, but also be harmful for the public (Steneck, 2006).

In a meta-analysis of survey data, the scientist Daniele Fanelli, found that roughly 2 percent of scientists admitted to have committed either Fabrication of Falsification (Fanelli, 2009).