Anonymous helpfully points out the continuing Fazlul Sarkar saga at Retraction Watch, including the affidavit in support of PubPeer by Dr. John Krueger, a former ORI investigator who stood up their forensic image group and:
My direct expertise in forensic image analysis stems from 20 years of relevant federal work in my second career, starting as one of the original Investigator–Scientists in the Division of Research Investigations (or later the Division of Investigative Oversight), Office of Research Integrity (1993–2013). In this position, I was responsible for the initial assessment of allegations of data falsification and also for the oversight of investigations into allegations of falsification of research. Both tasks involved a heavy commitment to forensic assessment of the evidence, either for the allegations (sometimes made ‘anonymously,’ meaning that ORI had no way to determine the source the allegation) for referral to institutions, or in the evaluation of the resultant institutional findings. This was one of the more interesting ‘silent’ jobs in science, as it provided many new opportunities.It's quite a good read from both an non-research science job and a forensic analysis position, if you have the time for it.
It must have been pretty frustrating to work for an agency where you have to write these incredibly detailed affidavits and whose biggest punishments is for a person not to accept five years of federal funding and not sit on any review panels for five years.
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