Integrity Of Scientific Research Research Articles

Trends in Collaborative Research in Italy–the Role of Public Laboratories and Policy Implications

Through the findings of a set of case studies of public research laboratories in Italy, this paper examines the extent to which the political objective of improved integration of public scientific research into the social system in Italy has been achieved. Two findings are highlighted: (1) the objective has only partially been achieved because of barriers within the public institution responsible for the management of these research programmes (especially the culturally defensive position of the academic community against the development of closer and stronger links with industry); (2) there is a continuing conflict between the priorities of the quality and the transferability of research. In practice, the degree of success in the transfer of results seems to be dependent on the particular mix of professional competencies, collaborations with external researchers, and the quality of the links with industry in the laboratory conducting the research programme. The authors consider the ways in which (and the extents to which) laboratories are adapting their working methods in the context of the need to achieve better relationships with industry. They also examine the degree of success in transferring research results into commercial applications. In conclusion, they suggest policy measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public-sector research programmes.

Ensuring scientific integrity in research: aspects of fairness and justice.

The procedures established by the Public Health Service and the National Science Foundation reflect an inclination to keep lawyers and legalistic procedures out of scientific misconduct cases. Although misconduct cases resolved at the agencies’ Washington headquarters probably reflect a greater degree of concern with due process, their published procedures require institutions to resolve misconduct cases with virtually no guidance as to the demands of procedural due process. A number of deficiencies in the handling of misconduct cases under PHS rules at the institutional level are discussed anecdotally on the basis of the author's experience in representing both whistle blowers and accused scientists in misconduct cases. It is inevitable that some misconduct cases will be heard by the federal courts, and that some of the legalistic trappings of due process will be imposed by the courts. Lawyers and scientists should work together to develop techniques for resolving cases in a way that meets due process re...

Fostering integrity in scientific research.

The authors trace the history of the now-symbiotic relationship between universities and the scientific enterprise and indicate how remarkable and beneficial this relationship has been. But, at the same time, universities are beset with troubles, many of their own making, and some of their actions are now questioned by the public. The authors indicate the major problem areas and some reasons for them, and then focus on one of the most serious of the universities' troubles, scientific fraud, which was once seen as a marginal problem but is now regarded as a central one by the public, who feel betrayed by the enterprise they are supporting. Just how much fraud actually occurs is hard to know; fraud is difficult to detect and fairly easy to perpetuate. The amount of damage that fraud, both detected and undetected, inflicts is also hard to estimate, but it can be considerable and of various types, one of the worst of which is the erosion of public confidence in the scientific enterprise. The authors urge universities and the scientists they support to be worthy of the public trust and to take seriously their responsibilities for setting, passing on, and enforcing the ethical standards of scientific research. They also propose reforms of some of the underlying conditions that make fraud more likely, so that the scientific enterprise will be strengthened from within, can continue to flourish, and will be worthy of public trust.

Achieving extra‐genre rhetorical goals: Disarming expectations

Though genre theory in rhetoric and rhetorical criticism has been the subject of much research regarding situations, audience expectations, and characteristics of particular genres, there is no discussion of how a speaker might successfully violate genre in order to talk about issues she or he feels are more important. An instance of this exceptional situation is John Hampden Chamberlayne's 1881 Confederate memorial speech, “Graves of the Cray.” Chamberlayne's approach of “disarming expectations” may be generalized within a communication rules perspective, opening new lines of research into the other side of genre theory, and new opportunities for the integration of humanistic and social scientific theory and research.

Kentucky, Not Kennedy. ROS, POS, and ROPO Rear Their Ugly Heads. Acronymic Archivist Seduced by Eponymy

To the Editor.— Scientific accuracy and research integrity are hallmarks of the medical literature. The medical press has highlighted recently widespread concerns about fraudulent reports in the literature and loss of credibility. Another aspect of the problem relates to unintentional inaccuracies. For decades, I have refuted as incorrect many first of its kind case reports in the literature. Helpful in these endeavors are my voluminous reprint files. Also seen occasionally are nonsense-type words and phrases due to typing or other error, overlooked in copy or proof editing. An unusual type of inaccuracy of my doing recently appeared inThe Journal.1A book reviewer's reference to Dutch-Kentucky syndrome led me to imply the term should be Dutch-Kennedy information about which I said was in my files. To my chagrin, I discovered from the book reviewer's gracious reply that my file data, in fact, related to Dutch-Kentucky syndrome, which term

Evaluation of Treatment in Occupational Therapy. Part 1. Methodology Issues in Conducting Clinical Trials

The purpose of this paper is to discuss important methodological issues that must be considered in planning and implementing clinical evaluation research in occupational therapy. The experiences of the authors in conducting a multi-centre intervention trial are used to illustrate issues and decisions which can both enhance the scientific integrity of clinical research while maint a ining its feasibility.Methodological issues include choice of research design, identification of significant confounding variables, subject selection and enrollment, incidence-prevalence bias, selection of appropriate and responsive outcome measures, maintenance of treatment consistency and compliance, and “masked” evaluation of outcomes. Attention to these issues will increase the methodological quality of occupational therapy evaluation research and improve the credibility of its results.

Congress Puts Pressure on Scientists to Deal With Difficult Questions of Research Integrity

CONGRESSIONAL INTEREST in scientific research integrity has taken a new and, in the view of some, more constructive turn. After a month in which one congressional committee called Secret Service investigators to testify about alterations in a scientist's notebooks, some semblance of sanity over the issue of what has been termed flawed versus fraudulent scientific research emerged during a hearing before a subcommittee of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, House of Representatives. While the debate on how to detect, correct, and prevent scientific fraud and misconduct continues, some changes in attitudes among scientists themselves are evident. In 1981, the same subcommittee heard testimony from Donald Fredrickson, MD, then director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Scientific fraud and misconduct were not a general problem, he said then. When it did occur, the scientific system had built-in self-corrective steps. Different Story Today Today, says the committee chair, Robert A.

Integrity in Scientific Research

Integrity in Scientific Research

ARTISANAL METHODS IN FRENCH OYSTERCULTURE: A REGIONAL COMPARISON1

ABSTRACTThe French oyster industry has changed significantly since the widespread introduction of the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) and, a comparison of three oyster producing regions in France indicates that social factors and physical geography are important parameters in the continued success of traditional French oyster culture. The integration of scientific research with the work of local artisans is considered a major goal for the future of oyster culture as well as the development of low capital culture schemes and polyculture methods.

Tribology at reading university

In recent years several high profile projects have questioned the repeatability and validity of scientific research in the fields of psychology and medicine. In general, these studies have shown or estimated that less than 50% of published research findings are true or replicable even when no breaches of ethics are made. This high percentage stems from widespread poor study design; either through the use of underpowered studies or designs that allow the introduction of bias into the results.In this work, we have aimed to assess, for the first time, the prevalence of good study design in the field of tribology. A set of simple criteria for factors such as randomisation, blinding, use of control and repeated tests has been made. These criteria have been used in a mass review of the output of five highly regarded tribology journals for the year 2017. In total 379 papers were reviewed by 26 reviewers, 28% of the total output of the journals selected for 2017.Our results show that the prevalence of these simple aspects of study design is poor. Out of 290 experimental studies, 2.2% used any form of blinding, 3.2% used randomisation of either the tests or the test samples, while none randomised both. 30% repeated experiments 3 or more times and 86% of those who repeated tests used single batches of test materials. 4.4% completed statistical tests on their data.Due to the low prevalence of repeated tests and statistical analysis it is impossible to give a realistic indication of the percentage of the published works that are likely to be false positives, however these results compare poorly to other more well studied fields. Finally, recommendations for improved study design for researchers and group design for research group leaders are given.

La Famille — Essai D'Interpretation

Although every period in history has been witness to a state of crisis in the family, none has ever known its complete disintegration. Each period of crisis seems to have been followed by a phase of formation of a new family behaviour. Until now scientific analysis has not succeeded in formulating the causes producing this equilibrium and the alternating disintegration and reintegration of the modes of family behaviour. Our main proposition is that any hypothesis in family behaviour must be able to analyze both the existence of integrated family groups and the phases of disintegration of family behaviour. The concept of family that we wish to introduce is that of an interrelational system, whose basic elements are the conjugal, parental and sibling relationships. The modes of familial behaviour appear, are transformed and disappear but the family as an interrelational system remains. The concept of levels of analysis, which follows logically, becomes that of the determinants of familial behaviour, psychosomatic, social and cultural. If each one of the levels of analysis is linked to one of the determinants, and by this fact has a certain autonomous existence, none alone could lead to a generalization nor even a global hypothesis on family behaviour. Moreover, it would be an illusion to present these levels as ‘complementary’ because on the contrary, their very connection shows how much their existence is ‘conflictual’, in the individual as well as in scientific theory. In the present state of research on the family it is impossible to elaborate a general theory by the simple juxta-position of conclusions and findings contributed by different specialists. The will or the capacity of the individual to maintain a certain family behaviour cannot be restricted to the subjective maturity of his individual conscience. The family situation of each person remains part of a wider interrelational system; the individual act exists in social and cultural conditions of the whole family. If it is possible analytically to separate the determinants influencing family behaviour into psychosomatic, social, cultural, and the integrative quality of the personality of each member, institutional action on the family is also another determinant, but representing very different possibilities from those usually included in the concept of determinant. This is because institutional action is global, conscious and active. We are not questioning the validity of scientific research when we emphasize how institutional action, based on this research, is at present in a very ambiguous situation. Firstly, because our scientific knowledge of the family is incomplete. Secondly, because we have not yet developed wide enough general hypotheses to serve as a basis for institutional action of a scientific nature. It is fitting then to emphasize that an institutional action which seeks to be an extension of scientific knowledge, even though it is desirable, is always of a very delicate nature because of the very limitations of scientific investigations.