Federal agencies can do more to ensure correction of the literature when research misconduct is found

ABSTRACT

Federal agencies can do more to ensure the integrity of the peer-reviewed literature including providing timely notice of misconduct findings or admissions regarding published articles, requiring the individual found guilty of misconduct to provide notice to affected journals, and to work with the journals and co-authors on making appropriate correction. The case of Andrew Cullinane underscores weakness in the current U.S. government administrative processes and the negative impact on journals.

KEYWORDS:

• Authorship
• ethics and public policy
• publication ethics
• research ethics
• research integrity
• research misconduct