Responsibility within without: The challenges of misconduct and quality insurance in scientific research

Abstract

This paper deals with the social costs of research misconduct and is based on findings from the European DEFORM Project (2017). Responsibility in scientific research is a complex amalgam, requiring demarcations along two major axes. Who are the actors (from researchers within the science sector, to external governance agencies)? What are the key quality considerations (those “intrinsic to science”, relative to “extrinsic” societal purposes)? We then exploit this framework to motivate innovative procedures of “extended peer community” dialogue around science quality, in this way reframing public, private and collegial responsibility.