Hopefully all researchers can learn from their mistakes and realize that one scientist can not possibly omniscient. It is always better to ask for a second opinion through peer review. Fleishmann and Pons' egoism was evident while performing their experiment. Concealing the experiment from the scientific community showed only self interest on their part. Their only interest was gaining fame for the discovery of cold fusion.
Egoism causes problems for other scientists and the scientific community.
For instance, due to the fact that Fleishmann and Pons withheld the complete experimental design, many scientists attempted the experiment and failed. Much time and money was expended from these failed replications. Fleishmann and Pons gave others false hope in replicating the creation of cold fusion. They also, inadvertently, destroyed their careers in the process. Because their experiment was not reliable and valid, physicists lost respect for its findings.