Penn State Intercom......August 23, 2001

Pell warns: There are no
short cuts to research integrity

By Barbara Hale
Public Information

Lapses in academic integrity and failure to follow established research guidelines have gotten national media attention over the past year due to the recent deaths of research subjects at Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania and a cheating scandal at the University of Virginia.

Recently, here at the University, a doctoral student was found to have falsified dissertation data. An investigation found the individual guilty and for the first time in the history of Penn State an individual was stripped of the doctoral degree awarded just a year earlier.

On Aug. 19, at a convocation for new and current graduate students, Eva J. Pell, vice president for research and dean of the graduate school, discussed the importance of research integrity and respect for the truth in the broadest context.

She told the students, "At this moment, you cannot imagine that you might ever seek a short cut -- falsify data, pour a chemical down the drain, neglect to report an isotope spill, or conduct an experiment with animals or collect human subject data for which you neglected to get a protocol approved. Today, I hope none of you could conceive of engaging in such behavior -- almost none of you ever will. But, some of you will experience pressure."

Pressure can come from many sources, Pell warned the students. She asked them to imagine a situation, in which their adviser needs data from a still-incomplete experiment for a proposal he or she is writing. Or, she said, imagine a scenario in which a student made a commitment to present a poster at a professional society meeting months before, the presentation is due now, and there's no time to wait for the institutional review board to grant permission for an experiment. Sometimes a student simply doesn't want to let an adviser down, or wants to finish up before funding runs out or just wants to get the degree wrapped up because there's a job waiting.

Pell urged the students not to succumb to the temptation to fabricate, falsify or plagiarize or to circumvent the rules put in place by the institutional review boards. She said, "We are entrusted with the care of people, of animals and of our environment and we must treat this responsibility with the utmost respect."

Drawing on her own career as a researcher, Pell said, "The quest for insight is never-ending; if ever achieved the moment is fleeting."

She added, "I have enjoyed that rush of insight just a few times. It is totally exhilarating, providing momentum that can carry you for a long time, even after your pages turn two-dimensional again. There are no short cuts to experiencing truth and no road map to get there."

Pell urges faculty and staff members to help students by pointing them to the resources available to assist them in learning how to conduct research safely and ethically. At the University, the Office of Regulatory Compliance is responsible for providing training programs for human subjects and animal care and use. The office offers both training and testing for certification online.

See the Office of Regulatory Compliance Web site at http://www.research.psu.edu/orc/ for more information.

Back