Retrospective Reflections of a Whistleblower: Opinions on Misconduct Responses

Abstract

Almost 10 years ago, when I was in my fourth year of graduate school, my fellow graduate students discovered that our thesis advisor had engaged in misconduct by falsifying and fabricating data in two grant applications. We informed the university and my advisor resigned. This event was a turning point in my life. Years later, I have gathered my thoughts and reflections on the experience. I believe we must first prevent what misconduct we can. But unfortunately some misconduct will still occur and in those circumstances we must respond to protect those affected by the misconduct and to progress beyond the event. In so doing, we get the most value out of scientific research.

Keywords:

• advisor
• Elizabeth Goodwin
• graduate student
• misconduct
• prevention
• whistleblower

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank Lynne Olson for helpful review comments and references. Furthermore, we would like to thank the members of my post-doc writing group for helpful editorial comments.

Notes

1. In this article, all self-references refer to Mary Allen.