Reporting unethical research behavior.
Eval Rev
; 23(5): 553-70, 1999 Oct.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-10621577
ABSTRACT
Scientists, as professionals, have a responsibility to self-regulate. However, whistleblowing is rare. We investigated scientists' infrequent disclosure of unethical behavior by studying their responses to scenarios describing unethical research acts and compared their responses to those of research administrators. A cross-sectional survey was administered to National Science Foundation-funded principal investigators and their institutions' representatives (IRs) to the Office of Research Integrity. Both scientists and IRs proposed to respond to nearly all research behaviors that they rated as unethical. Scientists more often proposed responses limited to the research team (58% vs. 25% of cases, p < .001) whereas IRs more often proposed to inform an administrator or dean, journal editor, funding agency, professional society, or reporter. The prior behavior and academic rank of the scenario protagonist were associated with responses, but consequences of the unethical behavior were not. Scientists appear to perceive that they uphold their responsibility to respond to unethical behavior by disclosures within the research team, whereas administrators propose to report to externally accountable individuals, raising the question of whether scientists' behavior constitutes professional self-regulation or cover up.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Research
/
Social Responsibility
/
Ethics, Professional
/
Interprofessional Relations
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Eval Rev
Year:
1999
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States