Systems Biology
Proteasome Recognized
as Nuclear Player on Gene-transcription Team
Pharmacology
Sense of Security May Be False
with Tried and True Anti-inflammatories
Immunology
Discovery of Calcium Channel
Protein Illuminates T Cell Signaling
Medical Education Reform
• New Curriculum Revs Up for Summer
• Introduction to the Profession: Entering Students Take the Plunge
Cutting Air Pollution Shown to Save Lives
Enoxaparin Beats Heparin in Clot-busting Trial
Kass Lecture Promotes Advance of Women in Surgery
HMS Faculty Inaugurate Medical Foundation in Dubai
Rabkin Fellows Chosen for ’06–’07
• The Enabling Side of a Disabled Child
• Ethics in Research: Are We Teaching by Example?
Ethics in Research: Are We Teaching by Example?
 Photo
courtesy of SERI
Mara Lorenzi |
Recently, we hosted a session for our trainees dedicated to scholarly and ethical issues in publishing and began the session by addressing some fundamental questions to build perspective. One question concerned the relationship of the scientist to science. We saw at one end of the distribution scientists who feel privileged to be instruments serving a greater goal; at the other end, prima donnas who need, seek, and value recognition and acclaim above everything else.
There was a strong sentiment among the trainees that in today’s world of science, the scientist just dedicated to serving science would not have a chance to thrive or even survive. We agreed that some ambition is necessary, mostly to sustain the scientist through the frustrations, delays, and failures that experimental work involves, and also to permit the scientist to savor the inevitable competition. We proposed that overambitious scientists court disaster unless they are anchored by crystalline honesty.
“No, it does not work like this,” said one of the trainees. “I came here from another of the HMS affiliates, where I worked elbow-to-elbow with an overambitious colleague who kept generating data that no one else could reproduce. But the consequence was not disaster. Rather, the work was published in two of the most prestigious journals, and my colleague was receiving offers for positions at prestigious universities. Yes, our superiors were aware of the uneasiness about the data, but did not act or react. All that I could do was to quit.”
Perhaps the postdoc could have done more, or perhaps the appearance of impropriety was overinterpreted, but these are not the only issues. A critical problem is that situations of ambiguity and, perhaps, of fraud are around us, and we let them be.
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One of the most offensive aspects of scientific fraud is the tremendous waste of time, time that does not belong solely to the scientists immediately involved. |
If trainees raise suspicions to a principal investigator, shouldn’t the PI at least acknowledge them and carry out a rigorous evaluation of where the data begin and end? Or perhaps other operators in the lab should perform the experiments.
One of the most offensive aspects of scientific fraud is the tremendous waste of time, time that does not belong solely to the scientists immediately involved. We build on what is published for months and years in the quest for understanding biology and curing diseases. Our work thus faces expectations, often urgent, often from vulnerable people.
We need integrity in science, and we should guard it at all costs. And it would be wise to convey to our trainees evidence that we care to guard scientific integrity. One small example in the room next door would be so much more educational than a million words at the next compulsory course on ethical conduct in research.