A former University of Queensland (UQ) professor who falsified a breakthrough study on Parkinson's disease has been charged with 16 fraud-related offences.

The charges came after an unprecedented investigation by the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC).

A whistleblower first raised questions about the work of Bruce Murdoch and his colleague Dr Caroline Barwood.

The pair published a research paper in a high-profile international journal heralding a major breakthrough in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

But the whistleblower told UQ their study was never conducted, and the university later confirmed no supporting data could be found.

Two research papers were retracted after UQ launched an internal probe examining almost 100 articles published by the pair.

Last year, the ABC revealed the initial publication of the fabricated study led to the researchers being given a number of grants.

One grant was accepted 10 months after the concerns over the study were first raised and one month after the CCC was notified of the investigation.

The CCC has alleged the 64-year-old academic fabricated research findings and fraudulently applied for both public and private research funding while producing false reports on the progress of research.

___________

Do you know more? email investigations@abc.net.au

___________

During his career Murdoch had more than 13 books and 380 peer-reviewed articles published.

He was highly regarded by his peers and was a member of the editorial board of 10 international journals and an editorial consultant to 20 other international journals.

Murdoch also founded the Centre for Neurogenic Communication Disorders Research at UQ which has since been shut down.

Barwood, a former UQ speech pathologist who co-authored the Parkinson's paper retracted by the European Journal of Neurology, has also been charged with six fraud offences.

Both Murdoch and Barwood resigned last year after the university started investigating the case.

Crime and corruption investigation 'unprecedented'

University of Western Australia professor of law and criminology Mark Israel said it was the first case he knew that involved academic misconduct being dealt with by a state integrity agency.

"This case would have interested them because the alleged fraud related to public money," he said.

Editor of the International Journal for Educational Integrity Dr Tracey Bretag agreed the actions taken by the CCC were unprecedented.

"Most often these sort of things are dealt with internally" she said.

"I think this shows people that academic or research integrity is a real world issue."

Dr Bretag welcomed the precedent which she said could open the door for other state integrity agencies across the country to investigate similar allegations.

Caroline Barwood has also been charged with six fraud offences. ( ABC News )

"If researchers start to be called into account in this way more regularly perhaps we would see less breaches of research integrity," she said.

Meanwhile professor Israel said: "If you really want to tackle research misconduct you still have to think about why researchers might be tempted to cut corners in the first place."

Murdoch is due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates court next week charged with three counts of fraud, seven counts of fraudulent falsification or records and five counts of general dishonesty.

Barwood was granted bail last month and will reappear in court in February next year.

The ABC has attempted to contact Murdoch for comment.