The U.S. public and private sectors invest billions of dollars and countless hours of highly skilled labor into scientific research every year, an investment that delivers enormous benefits to society. Integrity is indispensable to the orderly and efficient progress of this research. Regrettably, there have been some well-publicized breakdowns in scientific integrity and reported cases of irreproducible research. A new report from the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), Fostering Integrity in Research, recommends specific steps to secure a future based on integrity and reliability (www.nap.edu/catalog/21896/). These include establishing a new Research Integrity Advisory Board (RIAB) and taking stronger actions to discourage and eliminate practices that are clearly detrimental to research.
Authors: Marcia McNutt, Robert M. Nerem