Some legislators, however, perceive a more serious crisis, and in response to their criticism, the Department of Health and Human Services established two offices: its own Office of Scientific Integrity Review and the Office of Scientific Integrity (OSI) in NIH.
While it was necessary to strengthen the NIH mechanisms for dealing with fraud, the existence of two offices, for a function that could well be performed by one, wastes both money and time. More disturbing than their structure is the broad mandate of these new offices, which instructs them not only to monitor and conduct investigations of misconduct but also to "promote high standards of laboratory and clinical investigations in science through a prevention and education program."
This phrasing is fraught with possibilities for encouraging the government to mix problems of misconduct with problems of quality in the conduct of research. And even though the government may wish to be ...
