The roots of research misconduct

Abstract

What is the most effective way for mentors to prevent misconduct among trainees? First, they should make sure that those trainees understand the importance of research integrity. Consistently modelling good practice beats lecturing hands down, and discussing ethical guidelines at laboratory meetings helps the team to appreciate honesty — and the grim consequences of misconduct. But mentors should also understand the motivation behind some acts of misconduct, and the steps they can take to make sure that misguided trainees don’t commit scientific fraud. While dean of a US biomedical institution more than a decade ago (before my time at the Stowers Institute), I dealt with three cases of scientific misconduct. Each led to an admission of misconduct, sanctions against the perpetrator by the US Office of Research Integrity (ORI) and public disclosure of the person’s identity. One case also led to the retraction of several publications. In none of the cases was there any wrongdoing on the part of the mentors.