Title: Article Fails to Cite “Historical” Data
Author: Adapted from a case written by Anji Wall
Description: A department head received an anonymous complaint that a postdoctoral scholar published a paper with a new faculty mentor. The paper was published using old data collected from previous studies as a control group for a newly published study. The data from these prior studies were not properly cited in the new manuscript.
Keyword(s): Mentor-trainee Relationship, Research Misconduct, Scientific Integrity
Based On: (Shamoo & Resnik, 2003, p. 113)
Case: A postdoctoral scholar published a paper with his mentor, a new faculty member, on the chemical properties of a newly discovered compound. The properties of this compound in blood drawn from experimental animals was substantially different from that drawn from the control group. This difference was statistically significant and was the paper’s major finding. A few months later, the postdoc’s department head was anonymously given information that proved the control experiments had been fabricated, and the data used for comparison was drawn from prior studies. When confronted by the department head, the postdoc replied that he was taught that it was appropriate to use historical data for this purpose, but did admit that he did not properly cite the source for the data in his paper.
- What are the key ethical issues in this case?
- Does the postdoc’s use of the historical data for controls constitute research misconduct? Why or why not?
- What could the characters in this case have done differently?
- Did the department head behave appropriately? Why or why not?
- Should the department head have informed the postdoc’s mentor? A university official or the Office of Research Integrity? The journal where the paper was published? Why or why not?
- How should the postdoc’s mentor respond?
Source: Shamoo, A., & Resnik, D. (2003). Responsible Conduct of Research. New York: Oxford University Press.