Four agreements to counter scientific fraude
The Dutch universities are taking meassures to battle scientific fraude. The rectores magnifici (headmasters) of the Dutch universities presented a list with agreements today. This document defines what a violation of scientific integrity is and how it should be dealt with.
A press release by the VSNU (union of Dutch universities) reads that: “the existing mechanisms and procedures designed to uphold the scientific integrity were not infallible.”
The VSNU propose four, practical actions. They want scientists to promise to “to explicitly follow the code for the conducting of science.” According to the universities this code should be appended with the expectation that “every scientist should do all the possible to uphold and promote this code of conduct in his or her academic environment.”
The universities want one document which lists what kind of infringement can be labled as a violation of scientific integrity and which infringment isn’t. The unversities also agree to conceive a framework which details how universities should cope with scientific fraud. Matters which are at stake, are: “making all the known cases of fraud public, the separation between confidant and integrity committee and how the employment must be dealt with.”
The agreements will be fully developed at the start of May. With these rules, universities hope to standardize the way they handle fraud. Universities also agreed to pay more attention on how to conduct honest research during education. The universities are making the rules for proper scientific conduct stricter because of the Stapel case at Tilburg University. Stapel committed scientific fraud last year. However, the Stapel case wasn’t the only appearance of scientific fraud that caused these meassures to be taken.
