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EDITORIAL
There has now been time to examine the findings of the Beasley Committee, the group assigned by Bell Laboratories to investigate charges of falsification in the work of a research group in which Jan Hendrik Schon was a leading participant. The report analyzes the work presented in 25 papers by Schon and various combinations of 20 colleagues. The task was a monumental challenge, and the committee met it admirably. Its conclusion, that Schon is guilty of multiple instances of scientific misconduct, is convincing. The committee also cleared all coauthors of scientific misconduct.
That does not settle the matter. Public interest in the case is intense: The research was an international effort, involving coauthors from several countries, and Bell Labs has earned a record for excellence. The work was published in a number of journals-including, prominently, this one. Strong interest of this kind yields hard questions. In response to one that is frequently asked: Science has a standing policy that all authors of a paper must agree to its retraction. Bell Laboratories is working with all coauthors to get such agreements...