Sharing ideas too soon.

Abstract

The In Depth article “A radical change in peer review” (J. Mervis, 18 July, p. [248][1]) suggests asking grant applicants to review their competitors. This initiative from the National Science Foundation (NSF) may save time and money, and the NSF's “novel scoring system aimed at dissuading a reviewer from downgrading a competitor's proposal in order to boost their own” may represent an advance in the peer-review procedures. However, this “radical alternative” to the traditional peer review system raises questions about intellectual property. In the new peer-review system, grant applicants will share their novel ideas, which have not yet been scientifically tested, with their competitors for the grant. Although the “reviewers of grant applications are expected to maintain confidentiality and avoid using ideas in those applications without permission in their own research and for their own gain” ([ 1 ][2]), stealing ideas occurs in the research field ([ 2 ][3]). This unethical behavior might increase with the proposed system. The peer-review process certainly needs to evolve, but changes should be accompanied by mechanisms that minimize the risk of unethical behavior. 1. [↵][4]InterAcademy Council and IAP (The Global Network of Science Academies), “Responsible conduct in the global research enterprise: A policy report” (2012); [www.interacademies.net/10878/19787.aspx][5]. 2. [↵][6]1. L. C. Rodrigues , Br. Med. J. 317, 857 (1998). [OpenUrl][7][FREE Full Text][8] [1]: pending:yes [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [5]: http://www.interacademies.net/10878/19787.aspx [6]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [7]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DBMJ%26rft.stitle%253DBMJ%26rft.aulast%253DRodrigues%26rft.auinit1%253DL.%2BC%26rft.volume%253D317%26rft.issue%253D7162%26rft.spage%253D857%26rft.epage%253D857%26rft.atitle%253DA%2Bcompliment%253A%2BHaving%2Byour%2Bresearch%2Bideas%2Bstolen%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1136%252Fbmj.317.7162.857%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F9748182%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [8]: /lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiRlVMTCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6MzoiYm1qIjtzOjU6InJlc2lkIjtzOjEyOiIzMTcvNzE2Mi84NTciO3M6NDoiYXRvbSI7czoyNDoiL3NjaS8zNDUvNjE5OC83NDAuMS5hdG9tIjt9czo4OiJmcmFnbWVudCI7czowOiIiO30=