--Kate Devine
As a means of addressing research integrity, an increasing concern in all academic disciplines, the federal government recently announced a research integrity conference and grant program aimed at fostering empirical research on factors that positively or negatively affect this integrity. According to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity (ORI), little empirical evidence exists to guide government, research institutions, scientists, and professional societies in policy development and decision making regarding integrity in research. Lack of research also has prevented development of an information base for policies and programs to ensure integrity in research and to assess the impact on public health when good research practices are not followed. The first Research Conference on Research Integrity, sponsored by the ORI and co-sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes ...
