IRELAND MUST introduce procedures to protect against falsification and plagiarism of research findings, according to a discussion document produced by the Royal Irish Academy.
Introducing such safeguards would protect Ireland’s international reputation as a source of quality research, the academy says.
The document, Ensuring Integrity in Irish Research, arose as a result of a meeting in Dublin on the issue that took place about a year ago, said the academy's president, Prof Nicholas Canny.
A consultative committee set up after that meeting involving staff from the academy, the Irish Universities Association, the Health Research Board and the University of Limerick put together the document and the academy released it yesterday.
It calls for structures to protect against research fraud but also procedures to investigate a researcher if fabrication is suspected. A system of sanctions to punish those found to have cheated is also needed.
The decision to produce a discussion document was inspired by Dr Maura Hiney, head of policy, evaluation and external relations with the Health Research Board, Prof Canny said.
The meeting and the document were prompted by a series of very high profile international cases of falsification of data.
Other countries began tightening controls but Ireland was doing nothing, Prof Canny said.
“She [Dr Hiney] realised we were falling behind. This was becoming a serious issue because of the increased amount of money going into research in Ireland.”
Efforts to develop mechanisms to protect against research fraud were not suggested because of any cheating detected here, he said yesterday.
Those at the original meeting and the team that prepared the document “had an awareness” of examples of fraud from abroad.
“No Irish examples were cited. We were satisfied there had been no major case here,” Prof Canny said.
The committee studied best practice abroad including recommendations by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The report drew a distinction between research integrity – standards followed while conducting research – and research ethics, which referred to the “socio-ethical context” of research.
The report provided figures for the incidence of research misconduct as catalogued in the UK and US. A survey of US scientists suggested there could be three incidences of cheating per 100 researchers.
Although Ireland had not seen high profile cheating, having a national research integrity strategy would protect against it, the report said. It would also help to maintain Ireland’s research reputation abroad.
The report called for a “national advisory committee” to develop guidelines for research integrity. This group would develop procedures for handling misconduct allegations.
It said each university must set up its own controls for handling and investigating misconduct allegations, and a panel of experts should be available to investigate appeals against institutional decisions.
These controls would apply to academic research in a general sense and not only in the sciences, Prof Canny said. It was also essential to allow those with information about cheating to come forward. “We must protect the whistleblowers,” he said.