One of the online magazines that I look at for articles and resources is The Scientist, and today I was online and one article caught my eye. I saw this article from The Scientist, and I was absolutely horrified to see how many researchers are guilty of fraud in their research practices. These are severe ethical and reputation issues – and this is a huge problem that occurs across all disciplines. It is absolutely shocking to see the graphs presented in this article – here is one example that shows the rank of the researcher suspected of fraud:
Rank of researcher suspected of fraud (The Scientist, March 18, 2009)
So much is at stake if one person from a research team or university “fixes” their data – the reputation, funding, and overall perception and integrity of everyone at the university and program are effected, and as well know in reputation management and Benjamin Franklin quoted as saying, “it takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”
In this article, author Andrea Gawrylewski outlines how institutions and other professors can look to see if there are any fraudulant practices occuring in their lab. For example, Ms. Gawrylewski says that it is important for principal investigators and others involved in the research and laboratory to have regular meetings with all parties involved in the study as welll as having a clear channel of communication within the laboratory. Plus, it is also important to make sure that managing the overall atmosphere of the laboratory is crucial as well as incorporating social activities and interactions with the research team – including using social networking sites like Facebook.
Even though this article focuses heavily on the science fields – it is a good article for all professionals in various disciplines to look at. As academic professional – whether doing quantitative or qualitative research – we have to make sure that we report our data accurately and we hold ourselves to the highest ethical conduct. This article from The Scientist is a must read for current research professionals and students – and also working practitioners as well. I believe that individuals who are guilty of these unethical practices have no place in the research community or in the classroom.
Hope you all have a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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