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Evolution in a Test Tube

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University Responsibility for the Adjudication of Research Misconduct

Abstract

Current federal research misconduct regulations put universities in charge of investigating allegations made against their own faculty. The central thesis of this book is that conflict of interest prevents universities from properly carrying out their charge to investigate falsification of research. Universities, and specifically faculty committees, are poorly equipped to prove intentional or reckless behavior on the part of faculty respondents. Yet, failure to meet all the conditions of research misconduct leads to exoneration, even of those who have falsified data. A corollary is that the confidentiality clause in federal regulations has been distorted so that it is used to protect universities, not the informant or respondent to allegations as originally intended. The conflicts are illustrated by a specific example, in which two scientists managed to evade judgment for nine years by using legal pressure and other influence. The federal regulations were written with the assumption that science would be a significant guiding principle in the investigative process. In practice, scientific considerations are less important than the funding status, connections and litigiousness of respondents. These failures of the regulation can lead to serious harm to the reputation and professional standing of the informant.

Science is a search for the truth, that is the effort to understand the world: it involves the rejection of bias, of dogma, of revelation, but not the rejection of morality.

–Linus Pauling

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Stefan Franzen

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  1. Stefan Franzen
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Franzen, S. (2021). Evolution in a Test Tube. In: University Responsibility for the Adjudication of Research Misconduct. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68063-3_1

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