Does my silence make me guilty of scientific misconduct? Researchers’ views on raising concerns

The aim of this paper is to describe and discuss factors that might prevent researchers from raising concerns about the scientific misconduct that they observe in their work environment. The results of our study indicate that the hierarchy a nd power relationships among researchers often compel researchers to turn a blind eye towards scientific misconduct. This is most obvious among PhD students who are caught between what they think is the right way to do science and what they observe around them as established practice of doing science. This reluctance of PhD students was most prominent in day to day laboratory and clinical work. They assumed that the established researchers in a given field must invariably be correct. Even if they are wrong, one should not challenge them for doing so might imply an adverse impact on their own career. We argue that it may be difficult to move towards an open and constructive research culture if the young generation of researchers is exposed to and is part of a system that still operates in ways that are contrary to the spirit of research integrity. Although our interview study is limited to several institutions in one country, it is likely that our findings indicate concerns of researchers in other countries.
This research study was funded by the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences through Käthe Zingg-Schwichtenberg Fund awarded to Dr. David Martin Shaw.