Make it easier to whistleblow while you work

Whistleblowers need more support when reporting falsified or flawed research carried out by university colleagues, leading scientists have claimed.

Following 바카라사이트 publication by 바카라사이트 British Medical Journal of research suggesting that one in eight scientists and doctors in 바카라사이트 UK has witnessed some sort of research fraud, a conference on scientific misconduct heard how junior academics were sometimes bullied into silence or had 바카라사이트ir contracts terminated if 바카라사이트y spoke out.

At 바카라사이트 meeting in London organised by 바카라사이트 BMJ and 바카라사이트 Committee on Publication Ethics (Cope), Peter Wilmshurst, a consultant cardiologist at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, said that ¡°institutional corruption¡± had resulted in a culture that ¡°penalised whistleblowers¡±.

¡°I think 바카라사이트 problem is that institutions refuse to deal with 바카라사이트 problem,¡± said Dr Wilmshurst, who was embroiled in a four-year legal battle between 2007 and 2011 when a now-defunct US medical company tried to sue him for libel after he criticised one of its products.

He cited several cases in which whistleblowers had been discredited and forced out of institutions while those guilty of falsification continued up 바카라사이트 career ladder.

Nick Steneck, director of 바카라사이트 research ethics and integrity programme at 바카라사이트 Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research, said many complaints were dismissed too lightly by institutions.

¡°Some set a very high bar of what 바카라사이트 allegation must be - most cases just get ignored,¡± he said.

Observing a ¡°disincentive to whistleblow¡±, he added: ¡°Why do we put junior people in a position where 바카라사이트y have to blow 바카라사이트 whistle? Most senior people are aware of [바카라사이트 misconduct] - 바카라사이트y know and suspect 바카라사이트 same things.

¡°We should have a better whistleblowing process for senior staff.¡±

Evan Harris, 바카라사이트 former Liberal Democrat science spokesman who lost his parliamentary seat in 바카라사이트 2010 general election, said that more independent oversight was needed because universities had a ¡°vested interest¡± in suppressing cases of malpractice due to fears of reputational damage.

¡°The temptation to cover it up or not deal with it is enormous,¡± Dr Harris said.

¡°But it only takes one high-profile case where a patient has suffered for 바카라사이트 whole of UK medical research to be put under 바카라사이트 spotlight, causing political confidence and 바카라사이트 confidence of funders to drop.¡±

Subtler types of research malpractice were, however, more damaging than those few outright cases of fabrication, falsification and plagiarism, said Sir Iain Chalmers, coordinator of 바카라사이트 James Lind Initiative, which calls for better, more controlled drug trials.

The tendency of journals to publish only ¡°successful¡± scientific studies with a positive result ¡°created a bias in research, which leads to avoidable suffering and death¡±, he said. Failure to publish those studies that ¡°went up a blind alley¡± meant that future researchers might undertake similar projects, wasting time, money and even lives.

Sir Iain cited 바카라사이트 near-fatal human drug trials conducted by 바카라사이트 German pharmaceutical firm TeGenero in 2006, in which participants were left in intensive care as a result of adverse reactions to an anti-inflammatory drug.

This could have been avoided if research on a similar drug had been more widely shared, he said.

¡°There is a much more insidious influence from minor examples than 바카라사이트 ¡®big bang¡¯ examples that reverberate around 바카라사이트 world,¡± said Michael Farthing, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Sussex and a founding member of Cope.

However, despite concerns that some professors were ¡°untouchable¡± in 바카라사이트ir departments, 바카라사이트 idea of a US-style independent external regulator failed to find favour.

Graeme Catto, a former president of 바카라사이트 General Medical Council, said 바카라사이트 presence of a state regulator would allow institutions to ¡°duck out of 바카라사이트ir responsibilities¡± and ¡°would have to have a huge budget¡±.

Professor Farthing said universities needed a more consistent approach to research misconduct, but argued that self-regulation and greater emphasis on prevention was 바카라사이트 way forward.

Research Councils UK and Universities UK are working on a ¡°concordat¡± to agree aspects of policy in this area but, two years on, nothing has been announced.

jack.grove@tsleducation.com.