Scientific Integrity

This chapters explores a variety of topics related to integrity in research with human subjects including the importance of integrity in protecting human subjects; the definition of misconduct; questionable research practices; the prevalence of misconduct; misconduct vs. fraud; misconduct vs. error or negligence; procedures for reporting, investigating and adjudicating misconduct; famous cases of research misconduct; non-compliance in research; procedures for reporting, investigating, and correcting non-compliance; unanticipated problems in research involving increased risks of harm; serious or continuing non-compliance; serious adverse events; conflicts of interests; the definition of conflict of interests; empirical evidence concerning conflict of interest; why conflicts of interests are an ethical concern in science; the relationship between conflicts of interest, bias, and misconduct; famous cases of conflict of interest; policies for disclosing and managing conflicts of interest; and strategies for promoting integrity in research, such as support for education in responsible conduct of research; ethical leadership; development of policies for research ethics; auditing of data and research records; and mechanisms for providing consultation on ethics issues and protecting whistleblowers.