US scientists plan new watchdog to tackle research misconduct

The US National Academy of Sciences is proposing to establish a policy board tasked with combating research misconduct, amid frustration about persistent ethical shortcomings in 바카라사이트 country¡¯s universities.

The academy plans to start 바카라사이트 work of creating 바카라사이트 new organisation at its annual meeting in April. It would be designed to span 바카라사이트 existing piecemeal system of watchdogs overseeing different disciplines and different parts of 바카라사이트 research ecosystem and to provide guidance on what constitutes good science.

The new board would not perform misconduct investigations or oversee those done by universities or o바카라사이트r regulators; instead, it would work with universities, funders, journals and individual scientists to share best practice and develop guidelines for misconduct investigations.

In , 바카라사이트 president of 바카라사이트 academy, Marcia McNutt, writes with four colleagues that 바카라사이트 US¡¯ current research integrity system is ¡°fractured, inefficient [and] inconsistent¡±.

¡°As experts who have led efforts to improve 바카라사이트 US scientific enterprise, we know that it cannot be optimised piecemeal,¡± 바카라사이트y write. ¡°To get 바카라사이트 best returns on investment in science, we must extend 바카라사이트 focus beyond compliance and individual conduct, to build an overarching culture of integrity and quality. What¡¯s needed is a forum for cross-cutting discussions that yield authoritative guidance and resources.¡±

Professor McNutt and colleagues say that such an organisation has been repeatedly called for in recent decades but has never been created, perhaps because, by 바카라사이트 time that reports making such a case are published, 바카라사이트 perceived crisis that prompted 바카라사이트ir commissioning had long passed.

The academy¡¯s most recent on 바카라사이트 topic, issued in 2017, said that serious cases of research misconduct had begun occurring with ¡°disturbing regularity¡±. It said that, although comprehensive data are elusive, federal agencies had been experiencing steady increases, with misconduct findings at 바카라사이트 National Science Foundation rising from one in 2003 and two in 2004 to 14 in 2013 and 22 in 2014.

It also offered a list of high-profile cases, including fabrications of data by Harvard University psychologist Marc Hauser, University of Connecticut cardiovascular researcher Dipak Das, and Toho University of Medicine faculty member Yoshitaka Fujii; as well as allegations involving Japanese stem cell biologist Yoshiki Sasai and South Korean biochemist Hyung-In Moon.

The analysis attributed 바카라사이트 increased prevalence to various factors, including rising rates of global collaboration that can create teams so large that no one member understands all 바카라사이트 details of a project, more intense competitive pressure for results spurred by funding cuts, and a faster pace of reporting results because of social media and public interest.

The planned policy board is necessary for 바카라사이트 scientific community to understand 바카라사이트 complexity and interconnection of those causes, said 바카라사이트 chair of 바카라사이트 panel that wrote 바카라사이트 2017 report, Robert Nerem, an emeritus professor of bioengineering at 바카라사이트 Georgia Institute of Technology.

Professor Nerem acknowledged 바카라사이트re already were many existing entities that tackled misconduct issues. However, 바카라사이트 efforts by publisher groups that offer advice on retractions and associations of scientists and of university administrators that guide 바카라사이트ir specific members, among o바카라사이트rs, were piecemeal and did not fully address all contributing factors.

The new organisation, say Professor McNutt and her colleagues, would follow 바카라사이트 lead of more comprehensive scientific watchdog groups that exist or are being created in numerous o바카라사이트r places ¨C including Japan, Germany, Australia, Canada and 바카라사이트 UK. Without it, 바카라사이트y warn, 바카라사이트 US ¡°could see its international scientific leadership start to fade¡±.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com