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Science ethics debate continues

Last March, we ran a feature story on a proposed unified federal policy dealing with research misconduct (1). The article was published soon after the public commentary period had ended, and the recommended changes to the draft policy (2, 3) had been submitted to the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) for incorporation into a final document.

An official from the Office of Research Integrity (ORI, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services) has told Chemical Innovation that as of December 1, 2000, HHS and most of the agencies involved have signed off on the policy. OSTP has tentatively planned to release the final policy by January 2001. He emphasized that this is not a strict deadline, because OSTP is awaiting final approval from the other agencies that will be affected by this policy.

The federal policy deals explicitly with those who fabricate, falsify, or plagiarize information, but scientists are also tackling the ethical conduct issue from a proactive stance. As technology evolves, researchers in a wide variety of fields have had to assess the effects of their research on the wealth and well-being of their fellow human beings and on the planet. William A. Wulf, president of the National Academy of Engineering, cited the example of the Antarctic ocean-seeding project at a Sigma Xi–sponsored forum on science ethics last November (4). In the Antarctic experiment, large quantities of iron were dumped into the ocean to promote the growth of algae, in an attempt to reduce the amount of CO₂ in the surrounding air. Wulf said, “. . . we are engineering the planet. . . . Frankly, I think it’s pretty scary.” He stressed the need for the science and engineering enterprise as a whole to confront the ethical problems that arise from our capabilities.

Protecting the whistleblowers (those who alert the authorities to possible instances of misconduct) from retaliation is an essential feature of any code of ethical research conduct. Recently, HHS issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to establish standards for whistleblower protection (5). ORI has issued a request for comments, which are due by January 29, 2001 (6). A detailed list of contact information is available on the ORI Web site (7).

Late-breaking update The Office of Science and Tehcnology Policy has finalized its policy on federal research misconduct. This policy was effective as of December 6, 2000. For more information, see http://ori.dhhs.gov/html/news/fedreg76260.asp (accessed Jan. 9, 2001).

References

1. McGuire, N. K. Chem. Innov. 2000, 30 (3), 13–18.
2. Proposed Federal Policy on Research Misconduct To Protect the Integrity of the Research Record. Fed. Regist. 1999, 64 (198), 55722–55725.
3. http://ori.dhhs.gov/html/news/fedreg101499.asp (accessed Nov 30, 2000).
4. Schulz, W. Chem. Eng. News 2000, 78 (48), 18–19.
5. Public Health Service Standards for the Protection of Research Misconduct Whistleblowers. Fed. Regist. 2000, 65 (229), 70830–70841.
6. http://ori.dhhs.gov/html/news/news.asp (accessed Nov 30, 2000).
7. http://ori.dhhs.gov/html/about/addresses.asp (accessed Nov 30, 2000).

Nancy K. McGuire is associate editor of Chemical Innovation.