Research Integrity Officer (RIO)

Research Misconduct Articles

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Institute Keeps Chronic Fatigue Grant
The Institute whose now-retracted research linking chronic fatigue syndrome to a viral pathogen will keep its $1.5 million grant.
By: Edyta Zielinska
The Scientist; Published online 9 February 2012
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Double Grants, Double Trouble
Observers see grant application fraud as evidence that tighter controls preventing duplicate funding are necessary.
By: Sabrina Richards
The Scientist; Published online 8 February 2012
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Sloan-Kettering Chief is Accused of Taking Research
The president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Craig B. Thompson, is in a billion-dollar dispute with his former workplace over accusations that he walked away with research.
By: Andrew Pollack, NY Times
Published: February 5, 2012
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Misconduct Called Out on YouTube
A 6-minute video posted on YouTube documents more than 60 alleged cases of image manipulation in 24 papers from a single researcher.
By: Hannah Waters
The Scientist; Published online 26 January 2012
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Wine Researcher Caught Faking
One of the leading scientific voices touting the health benefits of red wine fabricated data dozens of times.
By: Bob Grant
The Scientist; Published online 13 January 2012
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More Retractions, Not Dishonesty
The surge in retractions may be the result of better detection tools and more vigilant journal editors, not an increase in ethical problems.
By: Tia Ghose
The Scientist; Published online 12 January 2012
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Stapel Paper Retracted
The Dutch Psychologist who's made headlines recently for a massive case of scientific fraud has a Science paper retracted.
By: Jef Akst
The Scientist; Published online 2 December 2011
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Research Harms Students?
The University of Oklahoma is investigating allegations that a professor of exercise physiology used students in research inappropriately.
By: Edyta Zielinska
The Scientist; Published online 8 November 2011
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Ghost Writing is Fraudulent
A legal remedy is needed to curb unethical “guest authorship” in medical journals.
By: Simon Stern and Trudo Lemmens
The Scientist; Published online 2 November 2011
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Neurosurgery Resident Plagiarized Research
A physician doing a residency at the University of Virginia Medical Center was caught copying sections of text and an illustration in multiple NIH-funded papers.
By: Bob Grant
The Scientist; Published online 7 November 2011
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Revising Federal Human Subjects Protections
On Tuesday, July 26th, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services published in the Federal Register (Vol. 76, No. 143) advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), an invitation to comment on a list of nearly twenty significant revisions to 45 CFR Parts 46, 160, and 164 under consideration.
By: University of Louisville Research Integrity Program
Compliance Companion, Volume VI Summer 2011
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Cancer Researcher Fabricated Data
Sheng Wang, assistant professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) Cancer Research Center until last month, committed research misconduct, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Research Integrity (ORI) announced last Friday (August 5). Specifically, the ORI determined that Wang fabricated data published in two 2009 papers in the journals Molecular Endocrinology (ME) and Oncogene, both of which Wang has agreed to retract.

By: Jessica P. Johnson
The Scientist; Published online 11 August 2011

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Integrity Guidelines Up for Public Review
NSF drafts guidelines of its scientific integrity principles, and opens them up for public comment.

By: Cristina Luiggi
The Scientist; Published online 5 August 2011

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Conflict Disclosure Plan Dropped
The NIH will not require universities to create websites detailing researchers' financial ties.

By: Meredith Wadman
Nature; Published online 1 August 2011

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St. Jude Postdoc Faked Images
A former postdoctoral researcher at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital fudged images published in two papers, one of which has since been retracted.

By: Tia Ghose
The Scientist; Published online 22 June 2011

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A Journal’s Statement May Aid a Harvard Researcher Accused of Misconduct
The journal Science said Monday that Marc Hauser, the Harvard researcher whom the university accused last year of eight charges of scientific misconduct, has replicated an experiment he published in 2007.

By: Nicholas Wade, NY Times
Published: April 25, 2011

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Voices: What's Next in Science
Here are prognostications for science in 2011 from 10 leading figures in 10 widely scattered disciplines, from genomics to mathematics to earth science.

By: Carl Zimmer, NY Times
Published: November 8, 2010

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Difficulties in Defining Errors in Case Against Harvard Researcher
The still unresolved case of Marc Hauser, the researcher accused by Harvard of scientific misconduct, points to the painful slowness of the government-university procedure for resolving such charges. It also underscores the difficulty of defining error in a field like animal cognition where inconsistent results are common.

By: Nicholas Wade, NY Times
Published: October 25, 2010

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The Game of Ghost Writing
When Sen. Charles Grassley raised concerns last month about scientific "ghost writing," in which papers are produced by companies or other parties whose names do not appear as authors, he acknowledged that he was unsure how widespread the practice was. A pair of studies presented Thursday at a scholarly meeting in Vancouver offer evidence of both the depth and the bread of the controversial activity.

By: Doug Lederman
Inside Higher Ed; Published online 11 September 2009

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School Sued for Fake Cancer Test
A biotechnology company is suing the University of Pittsburgh over a test for prostate cancer, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported last week. The lawsuit claims the test is "no more accurate in distinguishing cancerous tissue from normal tissue than flipping a coin," according to the newspaper.

By: Jef Akst
The Scientist; Published online 8 September 2009

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Fake Credentials in Nanomed Leader
Experts in nanomedicine are questioning the credentials of a researcher who has portrayed himself as an expert in the fledgling field, even starting a professional society and procuring a post as editor of the journal Nanomedicine.

By: Edyta Zielinska
The Scientist; Published online 25 June 2009

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Renal Researchers Faked Data
Two researchers conducting animal studies on immunosuppression lied about experimental methodologies and falsified data in 16 papers and several grants produced over the past 8 years, according to the Office of Research Integrity (ORI).

By: Bob Grant
The Scientist; Published online 13 July 2009

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"Gray Plagiarism": A Case from the History of the History of Computing - pdf
Claiming as one's own what one knows to be the discovery of another is certainly plagiarism. But what about merely failing to acknowledge the work of another where one does not give the impression that the discovery is one's own? Does it matter how easy it was to make the discovery? This paper analyzes a case in this gray area in academic ethics. The focus is not on the failure to attribute itself but on the attempt of an independent scholar who, believing himself to be the victim of "gray plagiarism”, sought a forum in which to make his complaint. The story could be told from several perspectives. I shall tell it primarily from the perspective of the complainant, an outsider, because I believe that way of telling it best reveals the need to think more deeply about how we (acting for the universities to which we belong) assign credit, especially to scholars outside, and about how we respond when someone complains of a failure to assign credit. My purpose is not to indict individuals but to change a system. This paper updates a case I first described in 1993.

Davis, M. (2006). “Gray Plagiarism”: A Case from the History of the History of Computing. Plagiary: Cross‐Disciplinary Studies in Plagiarism, Fabrication, and Falsification, 1 (7): 1‐18.

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Life After Fraud
Each year, the U.S. Office of Research Integrity (ORI) investigates dozens of charges of scientific misconduct. And each year, the ORI adds a handful of names to a list of researchers found guilty of falsifying figures, fabricating data, or committing other academic infractions. As of April 1, 2009, this Administrative Actions list, presented on the ORI Web site, carried 38 names. These people are barred from receiving federal funds and/or serving on a Public Health Service committee, typically for a period of 3–5 years. Once the debarment term is up, the name disappears from the list. In theory, the punishment—and the shame—of the ordeal is over.

By: Alison McCook
The Scientist 23.7, 28 (July 2009)

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Fairness for Fraudsters
The Office of Research Integrity (ORI), part of the US Public Health Service (PHS), serves an indispensible function: the identification and punishment of wrongdoers. A pioneer in the fight—and it is a fight—to retain honesty in scientific research, ORI continues to set standards for others around the world to follow. For the sake of research, researchers, and the wider community, it is essential that science's house is kept in order; we owe a debt of gratitude to ORI for the work that it does.

However, the system has a serious problem. Offenders are suffering far harsher penalties than intended.

By: Richard Gallagher
The Scientist 23.7, 13 (July 2009)

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Elsevier Published 6 Fake Journals
Scientific publishing giant Elsevier put out a total of six publications between 2000 and 2005 that were sponsored by unnamed pharmaceutical companies and looked like peer reviewed medical journals, but did not disclose sponsorship, the company has admitted.

By: Bob Grant
The Scientist; Published online 7 May 2009

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Purdue, Citing Research Misocnduct, Punishes Scientist
An appeals committee at Purdue University has upheld findings of misconduct on the part of a professor who claims to have created energy-generating fusion in a tabletop experiment.

By: Kenneth Chang, NY Times
Published: August 27, 2008

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Columbia Professor in Noose Case is Fired in Plagiarism Case
Madonna G. Constantine, a professor of psychology and education, gained widespread attention last fall after a noose was found hanging on her office door.

By: Marc Santora, NY Times
Published: June 24, 2008

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Scientists Behaving Badly
To protect the integrity of science, we must look beyond falsification, fabrication and plagiarism, to a wider range of questionable research practices, argue Brian C. Martinson, Melissa S. Anderson and Raymond de Vries.

Serious misbehaviour in research is important for many reasons, not least because it damages the reputation of, and undermines public support for, science. Historically, professionals and the public have focused on headline-grabbing cases of scientific misconduct, but we believe that researchers can no longer afford to ignore a wider range of questionable behaviour that threatens the integrity of science.

Nature 435, 737-738 (9 June 2005) | doi:10.1038/435737a; Published online 8 June 2005

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Last updated February 9, 2012