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Animal Ethics Biosafety Human Research Ethics Research Integrity

A powerful blow against misconduct – Chemistry World (Derek Lowe – Opinion | April 2021)

Posted by Dr Gary Allen in Research Integrity on April 22, 2021
Keywords: Breaches, Institutional responsibilities, Publication ethics, Research integrity, Research Misconduct, Research results, Researcher responsibilities

The Linked Original Item was Posted On April 7, 2021

A whistle with a zipper sealed mouthpiece.

Supporting whistleblowers is vital for detecting and preventing bad behaviour

The recent news of an ex-employee’s accusation of misconduct at Syngenta brings up a painful (but sometimes painfully important) set of related topics: misconduct and whistleblowing. Now, it has to be said immediately, and in capital letters, that I am Not Licensed to Dispense Legal Advice, so don’t construe this column that way. In fact, the soundest advice that I can give someone who’s in such a situation is to consult someone who is qualified in these matters.

A great paper about whistleblowing, research misconduct and institutional processes.  We have included links to eight related items.

That’s because the laws involved are complex, and that’s a statement that applies to the UK, the US, and almost any other country where the rule of law is supposed to hold. The procedures for reporting violations of the law (and the protections for anyone bringing such accusations) can vary according to whether you’re the employee of a government agency versus working for a company, whether that company is publicly traded or not, what agreements you have signed with them, whether or not you are still an employee there, the time that has elapsed since the violations, and more.

Many people will have lingering doubts about how well internal controls hold for cases of major misconduct

Another big variable is what you might have done about the problem through a company’s own procedures. Every biopharma company I’ve worked at has had a hotline, generally quite well-publicised, for reporting misconduct. I have never had occasion to use any of them (fortunately), but I have definitely heard of cases where they worked as designed. That said, many people will have lingering doubts about how well such internal controls will hold for cases of major misconduct, things involving significant business or regulatory impacts or the behaviour of high-ranking company officers…

A powerful blow against misconduct
Supporting whistleblowers is vital for detecting and preventing bad behaviour

Related Reading

Theranos whistleblowing and speaking truth to power – TED (Erika Cheung | February 2020)

(Australia) University recommends retraction of two computing papers for plagiarism – Retraction Watch (Leto Sapunar | June 2020)

(US) She Blew the Whistle on Pathogens That Escaped From a Government Lab. Now She’s Being Fired – Vice (Maddie Bender | February 2020)

‘A long and lonely process:’ Whistleblowers in a misconduct case speak out – Retraction Watch (Ivan Oransky | )

(Australian case) A researcher with 30 retractions and counting: The whistleblower speaks – Retraction Watch (Artemisia Stricta | October 2019)

(Australian case) A publisher just retracted 22 articles. And the whistleblower is just getting started – Retraction Watch (Ivan Oransky | September 2019)

(US) Duke whistleblower gets more than $33 million in research fraud settlement – NPR (Bill Chappell | March 2019)

A Star Surgeon Left a Trail of Dead Patients—and His Whistleblowers Were Punished – LeapsMag (Eve Herold | October 2018)

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