A Last Resort Those alleging misconduct agree with administrators that the optimal way to settle cases is through institutions, not the press.
(The Scientist, Vol:10, #6, p. 1 & 4, March 18, 1996)
Scientists do not agree on what misconduct is. They do not agree on how much of it occurs. Nor do they agree on what should be done about it. Yet scientists and research administrators largely do concur that it would be better for all concerned-and for science itself-if the press never got involved in allegations of misconduct except to report final outcomes.
Indeed, the Commission on Research Integrity (CRI)-a 12-member panel created by Congress in reaction to continuing misconduct in research and retaliation against whistleblowers-omitted direct mention of the role of the press in its recently completed report (B. Goodman, The Scientist, Jan. 22, 1996, page 1). Indirectly, panelists had the press at least partly in mind ...
