Sir

The widespread occurrence of fraud and misconduct in scientific research prompts me to honour the foresight of Jules Romains (1885-1972) who satirized such improper behaviour many years ago1. His farcical comedy Donogoo (1920) deals with the description by the famous geographer Yves Le Trouhadec of the golden city of Donogoo-Tonka, which is later shown to be nonexistent; nevertheless, the appropriate publicity leads to the fraudster's admission to the Institut de France. It is interesting to come across this comedy just now when scientific misconduct is openly discussed in industrial societies but remains concealed in developing countries.

The small scientific output of Mexico and the lack of high-profile fraudsters do not guarantee proper behaviour among Mexican scientists2; in fact, it may well be the other way round. Developing countries also need to set up procedures to deal with scientific misconduct.

Horacio Rivera División de Genética, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ap. Postal 1-3838, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico e-mail: hrivera@udgserv.cencar.udg.mx