Personal Experiences of Research Misconduct and the Response of Individual Academic Scientists

From a national U. S. sample of senior academic biochemists, ninety-four indicated that they personally knew of an incident of scientific wrongdoing. Among these individuals, less formal actions against an offending individual were endorsed when either (1) actions were believed to have the potential to publicly embarrass the offending individual, or (2) the actions might adversely affect the professional career of the whistleblower. These relationships remain significant after controlling for professional status, career age, and current level of formal departmental administrative responsibility. Study limitations and implications are discussed.