1. Public Perceptions of Scientists: Questionable Research Practices Nov 21, 2014 Ed Krug BioE room 101 876-2404 krugel@musc.edu

2. “…fabricating more than a decade’s worth of scientific data on obesity, menopause and aging, much of it while conducting clinical research as a tenured faculty member at the University of Vermont.” http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/magazine/22sciencefraud.html?pagewante d=all&_r=0 “A charge of widespread scientific fraud, involving 26 articles published in 11journals, was leveled by…” University Suspects Fraud by a Researcher Who Studied Red Wine http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/science/fraud-charges-for- dipak-k-das-a-university-of-connecticut-researcher.html An Unwelcome Discovery Lack of integrity leading to findings of research misconduct are increasingly in the news

3. Is unethical behavior in conducting research getting worse or … is there a greater awareness of its impact? http://ori.hhs.gov/images/ddblock/dec_vol21_no1.pdf http://www.the- scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/35543/title/Opinion--Ethics- Training-in-Science/

4. Actual incidence of research misconduct (FFP) is rather low – about 10-15 findings published per year nationally (out of ~400 investigations) – but occurrence of at least one “questionable” practice is quite high – about 25% of all investigators (includes students, postdocs, and faculty)

5. http://www.vib.be/en/news/Pages/Research-misconduct---The-grey-area-of-Questionable- Research-Practices.aspx Examples of QRP: Neglecting negative outcomes Using inappropriate statistics to support one’s hypothesis Inappropriate research design Leaving out relevant controls Inappropriate re-use of controls Removal of ‘outliers’ Conscious bias Unethical experimentation Peer review abuse

6. Martinson et al. (2005). Nature 435:737-738. Questionable Research Practices Survey

7. LK John et al. (2012). Psychol. Sci. 23:524-532. n = 2,155 Self-admission of questionable research practices by academic psychologists

8. Prevalence of doubting the integrity of research by others LK John et al. (2012). Psychol. Sci. 23:524-532.

9. “Consistent with the notion that latitude for rationalization is positively associated with engagement in QRPs, our findings showed that respondents who admitted to a QRP tended to think that their actions were defensible.” LK John et al. (2012). Psychol. Sci. 23:524-532. The ability to rationalize questionable research practices … do the ends justify the means?

10. http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/files/in tegrity51417692.jpg http://nickshell1983.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/g 013009blago1_cst_feed_20090129_16_28_37_1500h 400w306.jpeg VS. “The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.” General Norman Schwarzkopf

11. Evolution of the AIDS pandemic involved questionable research practices

12. “And the Band Played On” Main Characters

13. Make two lists as you watch the video: Actions by individuals that seem wrong or questionable Conflicts between individuals or groups that may have had the greatest impact on facilitating the current AIDS epidemic