Dr. G. Simpson Rips A.W. Jones: Case Commentary and Key Dispute
Article overview: In 1997, Dr. Simpson was searching the scientific literature on alcohol and discovered several irregularities in work by AW Jones. An article published by Jones and Neri [1] in 1991 stated that the experimental work was reported in an earlier article published by Kelly, Myrsten, Neri, and Rydberg…
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Publishing Original Scientific Research
In 1997, Dr. Simpson was searching the scientific literature on alcohol and discovered several irregularities in work by AW Jones. An article published by Jones and Neri [1] in 1991 stated that the experimental work was reported in an earlier article published by Kelly, Myrsten, Neri, and Rydberg [2] in 1970. It follows that the experimental work itself was completed sometime before 1970.
According to his resume [3], before 1970, Jones was working on his B.Sc. degree at the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, which was awarded in July 1969 when he was 23 years old. He then went on to complete his Ph.D. studies at the same university. The experimental work for the article published in 1970 was conducted at the Department of Alcohol Research of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden [2], where Jones only began to work in 1974 after receiving his Ph.D.
Why would Jones use experimental work conducted by others more than 20 years earlier to publish an article in 1991? Why weren’t the original coauthors—Kelly, Myrsten, and Rydberg—included as coauthors of the 1991 article by Jones and Neri? Jones was at the University of Wales from1969 1969 to to 1970 finishing his B.Sc. degree and starting his Ph.D. work, which he finished in October 1974 [3], so how did he contribute to the work carried out before 1970, permitting him to appear as a coauthor of the 1991 work?
In a more recent article [4], Jones attempted to relate blood, breath, and saliva alcohol concentrations to body function impairments. These results are important because this remains the only peer-reviewed study that attempted to relate breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) to the impairment of body function. To enact direct BrAC statutes, legislators must know the BrAC at which people are unable to drive safely, and work like that of Jones provides the basis for setting appropriate BrAC limits.
Unfortunately, obligatory disclosure information was absent from this work. Though the article acknowledges that the experimental work was carried out at the Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Research at the Karolinska Institute, the acknowledgment does not state when this work was completed. The article was received for publication in March 1993 [4], 7 years after Jones left the Karolinska Institute [3]. Was the work done before he left, i.e., in 1986 or earlier?
We later found that Jones and Neri stated they used an analytical technique used in the 1970 experiment that formed the basis of the publication, that was not published until 1975 proving the publication contained fraudulent assertions. The relevant parts of the paper are as follows:
“The concentration of ethanol was determined by an enzymatic oxidation procedure as described in detail elsewhere (19,20).”
Citation number 20 in the publication refers to a paper written in 1975 as the source of the analytical technique:
“20. Buijten, J.C. An automatic ultra-micro distillation technique for determination of ethanol in blood and urine. Blutalkohol 1975; 12: 393-398.”
According to Jones’ resume, he was not present for this experimental work. Furthermore, for some reason, he attempts to bolster the work by claiming it was carried out using an analytical technique that was not published until 5 years after the experimental work was completed. Did Jones then use experimental work that was 21 or more years old to complete his research published in 1993?
Jones also failed to disclose who funded the experimental work conducted at Karolinska and who received funding. Further research by Okorocha proved that Jones used experimental work that he had nothing to do with [5] to write a paper many years later [6], and he did so more than once.
In the context of publishing original scientific work, these irregularities are significant and call Dr. Jones’ veracity, integrity, and ethics into question.
[1] After Dr. Simpson exposed Dr. Jones’ fraud, he mentored Okorie Okorocha, M.S., M.S., J.D.
[2] The original paper by Dr. G. Simpson of Thousand Oaks, California, entitled Publishing Scientific Research, was published in the DWI Journal.
References
1. A. W. Jones, A. Neri. Evaluation of blood-ethanol profiles after consumption of alcohol together
with a large meal. Canadian Soc. Forens. Sci. J. 1991;24(3P65-73.
2. M. Kelly, A.L: Myrsten, A. Neri, U. Rydberg, Effects and after effects of alcohol on physiological and psychological functions in man — a controlled study. Blutalk. 1970;7:422-36.
3. State v. Downie, et. al, Docket No. A-167 Sept. Term 1988, Supreme Court of New Jersey. “Findings of Fact,” P J. McGann, J.S.C.
4. Jones, A. W. (1993). Pharmacokinetics of ethanol in saliva: comparison with blood and breath alcohol profiles, subjective feelings of intoxication, and diminished performance. Clinical Chemistry, 39(9), 1837-1844.
5. Cowan, J. M., Burris, J. M., Hughes, J. R., & Cunningham, M. P. (2010). The relationship of normal body temperature, end-expired breath temperature, and BAC/BrAC ratio in 98 physically fit human test subjects. Journal of analytical toxicology, 34(5), 238-242.
6. Alan Wayne Jones & Johnny Mack Cowan (2020) Reflections on variability in the blood–breath ratio of ethanol and its importance when evidential breath-alcohol instruments are used in law enforcement, Forensic Sciences Research, 5:4, 300-308, DOI: 10.1080/20961790.2020.1780720
For additional case analysis, browse the Law Updates archive.
Primary literature and publication-ethics sources
- PubMed record for Jones’s 1993 ethanol pharmacokinetics paper
- PubMed record for the 2010 BAC/BrAC study
- Full text of the 2020 blood-breath ratio paper
- ICMJE criteria for authorship and accountability
Related reading: For related context, read The Attorney Life: Demands, Strategy and Professional Reality, Dr. Vina Spiehler: Expert-Witness Credibility Concerns, Malibu Sniper Sentenced to 119 Years for Killing a Father.
