The European Commission have published the findings of the Expert Group on the State of Art in Europe on Responsible Research and Innovation. The report ‘Options for Responsible Research and Innovation’ aims to ensure stakeholders obtain relevant knowledge, effectively evaluate outcomes and options in terms of societal needs and moral values and employ these considerations […]
In November 2012, the USA’s medical research agency, National Institutes of Health (NIH) published NIH Policies and Procedures for Promoting Scientific Integrity. The centralised document consolidates the NIH’s policies and procedures for ensuring the highest degree of scientific integrity. Its publication fulfills the memorandum issued by President Obama in March 2009, instructing the Director of […]
In November 2012 Perspectives on Psychological Science published a fascinating article, ‘Scientific Misconduct and the Myth of Self-Correction in Science.’ Authored by Wolfgang Stroebe, Tom Postmes and Russell Spears, the piece examines whether psychology is more vulnerable to research fraud than the biomedical sciences and explore the effectiveness of self-correcting mechanisms in research. It studies a […]
In December 2012, PLoS ONE published research into the prevalence and content policies of the most influential biomedical journals on research misconduct and their procedures for addressing allegations of misconduct. The authors conducted a cross-sectional study of the misconduct policies of 399 high-impact biomedical journals in the United States. The study defined research misconduct as […]
Saint Louis University in the United States has created a course to help rehabilitate researchers who have committed research misconduct. Nature reports how the university has launched its ‘RePAIR’ programme – ‘Restoring Professionalism and Integrity in Research’ – in response to the rapid growth of misconduct cases. The US Office of Research Integrity (ORI) reported that […]
In 2007, the United States Office for Research Integrity (ORI) published its Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research by Professor Nicholas Steneck, a comprehensive and informative overview of research integrity issues. Focused on research integrity in the USA, the book provides an excellent discussion of the varied rules and regulations that aim to promote […]
On 22 November, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) held a workshop on access to clinical- trial data and transparency. A spokesperson said that the event marked the beginning of the move towards the proactive disclosure of clinical trial data., a decision was initially announced in April 2012 in ‘Open clinical trial data for all? A view […]
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has invited comments on the implementation of the Concordat to Support Research Integrity within higher education institutions in receipt of public funds via HEFCE. The consultation on the proposed implementation of the Concordat from 2013-14 seeks comment on whether compliance with the document should be a condition […]
The Government has agreed to introduce an exemption to the Freedom Information Act for on-going research. The proposed amendment will afford the protection already existing in Scotland to pre-publication research conducted in England and Wales. The announcement was made in response to a report by the House of Common Justice Committee. This recommended that pre- publication […]
This week, Paul Jump of Times Higher Education explores if lab size might influence the occurrence of sloppy or fraudulent research. Times Higher Education: Small, medium or large