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Overdue: a US advisory board for research integrity

Research needs an authoritative forum to hash out collective problems, argue C. K. Gunsalus, Marcia K. McNutt and colleagues.
  1. C. K. Gunsalus

    1. C. K. Gunsalus is director of the National Center for Professional and Research Ethics at the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign, USA.

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  2. Marcia K. McNutt

    1. Marcia K. McNutt is president of the US National Academy of Sciences.

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  3. Brian C. Martinson

    1. Brian C. Martinson studies research integrity and behavioural change at the HealthPartners Institute in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA.

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  4. Larry R. Faulkner

    1. Larry R. Faulkner is president emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin, USA.

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  5. Robert M. Nerem

    1. Robert M. Nerem is institute professor emeritus at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA.

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Illustration by David Parkins

When it comes to fostering rigour and scientific integrity, US research institutions are stuck. Working out best practice is far from straightforward, and faculty members can be resistant to top-down directives. So, on a day-to-day basis, the conventions that research groups have for documenting methods and results, conducting analyses and allocating credit are often less than optimal. At worst, they can encourage dishonesty and scandal. For example, in April 2017, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and its health-care network agreed to pay US$10 million to settle fraud allegations in stem-cell research funding. (Researchers contest who is at fault.) The hospital has requested retractions of more than 30 papers, and a clinical trial involving more than 100 participants has been paused while data are reviewed. Resources that might have brought better medical care have been squandered.

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Nature 566, 173-175 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00519-w

References

  1. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. Responsible Science, Volume I: Ensuring the Integrity of the Research Process (National Academies Press, 1992).

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  2. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Optimizing the Nation’s Investment in Academic Research: A New Regulatory Framework for the 21st Century (National Academies Press, 2016).

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  3. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Fostering Integrity in Research (National Academies Press, 2017).

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  4. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The Next Generation of Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences Researchers: Breaking Through (National Academies Press, 2018).

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  5. Michalek, A. M., Hutson, A. D., Wicher, C. P. & Trump, D. L. PLOS Med. 7, e1000318 (2010).

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  6. McNutt, M. K. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 115, 2557–2560 (2018).

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  7. Gunsalus, C. K., Marcus, A. R. & Oransky, I. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 319, 1315–1316 (2018).

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Competing Interests

B.C.M. co-developed and validated a tool (the SOURCE) specifically for assessing organizational climates, as mentioned in the article. B.C.M. consults with the National Center for Professional and Research Ethics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which C.K.G. directs, in the promulgation of the SOURCE tool through services provided at the centre. Through a contract between B.C.M.’s employer and that centre, B.C.M.’s employer receives consulting fees that cover part of B.C.M.’s salary.

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