In a letter to Chris Pascal, director of the Office of Research Integrity (ORI), AAAS CEO Alan I. Leshner, executive publisher of the journal Science, said scientists contribute a critical level of objectivity, balance and technical expertise to research misconduct proceedings.
"Research misconduct allegations can damage the public's trust in the scientific process and the promise that science holds to improve all our lives," Leshner said. "Responsible scientists thus have an obligation to help investigate such cases in a technically rigorous, objective and timely manner. Under the current process, scientists play an important role in hearing and assessing allegations of research misconduct, and AAAS believes that this input is imperative."
The AAAS letter was a response to proposed new research misconduct rules issued in April 2004 by the DHHS (http://ori.hhs.gov/). While AAAS generally supports the new recommendations, it considers disbanding the current appeals board in favor of a single judge for hearing and deciding all violations as imprudent. It is highly unlikely that any judge hearing the case will be sufficiently versed in the science that lies at the core of the misconduct findings.
"Eliminating the Departmental Appeals Board in favor of a single administrative law judge disenfranchises scientists from the appeals process," said Mark Frankel, director of the program on Scientific Freedom, Responsibility and Law at AAAS. "By doing so, the proposed regulations risk losing credibility within the research community. We have urged the government to require the judge to appoint an expert with no ties to the case under review in order to assist in the evaluatio
'"/>
Contact: Monica Amarelo
mamarelo@aaas.org
202-326-6431
American Association for the Advancement of Science
17-Jun-2004