Is Scientific Misconduct a Problem?
All persons who have been trained to carry out research understand that the scientific enterprise depends on a social compact of honesty in reporting. Many have questioned whether instances of fabrication, falsification or plagiarism are frequent enough to require a raft of bureaucratic rules and procedures. For the past three years, the number of new allegations of misconduct reported to federal regulators has been between 50 and 70 per year, with the numbers declining. Of these allegations, around 10-15% result in full investigations. Of the cases in which the federal Office of Research Integrity carries out an investigation, about 1/3 result in findings of misconduct. This translates to perhaps 9 or 10 cases of confirmed misconduct per year. In the vast world of scientific research, these are very small numbers. However, it is impossible to know how many cases of misconduct go undiscovered. One thing both critics and supporters of the current system agree on: Ferreting out misconduc
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