An error uncorrected: a case study in intellectual corruption

ABSTRACT: A reviewer of a book I wrote claimed an idea presented therein could be found elsewhere. Eight years later, no one could say where, but no one would correct the erroneous allegation. The citations submitted proved to be fallacious, and the file on the dispute maintained by the American Psychological Association (APA) really is not about my case at all. There was a basic conflict between the conduct of the organization's functionaries and its ethical code. Those involved created a cover-up characterized by secrecy, irrelevancy, misrepresentation, failure to communicate and an adamant refusal to deal logically with my complaint and the facts of the case---everything inimical to the ideal academic/scientific end: the truth.