Abstract
A large part of governmental research funding is currently distributed through the peer review of project proposals. In this paper, we argue that such funding systems incentivize and even force researchers to violate five moral values, each of which is central to commonly used scientific codes of conduct. Our argument complements existing epistemic arguments against peer-review project funding systems and, accordingly, strengthens the mounting calls for reform of these systems.
Highlights
In industrialized societies, a large fraction of the governmental budgets for research is allocated through competitive peer review of project proposals
We argue that peer-review project funding (PRPF) commonly forces both applicants and reviewers to make claims they cannot sufficiently justify
Because it is unlikely that reviewers are fully insensitive to factors that are unrelated to scientific merit (Inouye and Fiellin 2005; Porter 2005), PRPF systems plausibly reward grantsmanship
Summary
Charité, Berlin, This article is included in the Research on Research, Policy & Culture gateway. Author roles: Conix S: Conceptualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing; De Block A: Conceptualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing; Vaesen K: Conceptualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing. How to cite this article: Conix S, De Block A and Vaesen K. Multiple small changes were made to the original manuscript on the basis of the suggestions of the reviewers. These changes are described in detail in our responses to the reviewers. Any further responses from the reviewers can be found at the end of the article
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