Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
4 FROM MIT NAS Science Ethics Panel Expects Final Report in Fall Amidst the swirl of several continuing scientific controversies and investigations, a National Academy of Science panel met Monday and Tuesday to develop an effective method of self-governance of science. "We are examining steps that can be taken to reinforce the integrity of science," said Dr. Edward E. David Jr., chairman of the NAS panel and former science advisor to President Richard M. Nixon in an interview Friday with MIT Tech Talk. "We may not have the complete answers, but it is very important that the science community maintain its customary self-governance." He said the committee, the Panel on Scientific Responsibility and the Conduct of Research, known as the ethics panel, hopes to have a final report in December. According to a news report in The New York Times Thursday, the panel is considering a body outside of academic centers to write model standards for the investigation of suspected misconduct, to keep track of how much misconduct is reported and how it is handled. Dr. David was quoted as saying, "We must assure the people who pay for the work, such as Congress, that there is some reason to believe we are doing things right, and that we are not cheating." Dr. David said Friday that the panel will "not necessarily recommend an outside group" and that the final report "will be the work of the entire committee." He said the panel was considering courses in ethics and scientific conduct for science students. On the subject of investigating suspected or reported misconduct, Dr. David told the Times, "Some [universities] have had more success than others, but their performance has not been sparkling overall. We need, therefore, to be sure the mechanisms are in place to handle cases of this kind in a fair and equitable way. First of all, mechanisms for the reporting of misconduct, to protect the whistle-blowers, as well as the privacy of people involved." The Times said the panel was considering having universities take steps to reduce the pressure on scientists to publish papers and get grants. Dr. David said the rules for tenure might require that only a small number of a scientists' best papers would be considered, rather than the overall number of scientific papers. The Times reported thatDr. David, commenting on "Why is all of this happening?," said: "Cause and effect is not easy to establish, but a lot of things are different today than they were 20 years ago, when I was active in science. The pressure to achieve tenure, to bring in grant money is much more profound today. Also, the number of researchers has increased." Dr. Frank Press, president of the NAS, told the Times, "Everyone wants to do something about this without having to send inspectors into every lab to check the day's entries in the notebooks." Dr. Press is a member of the MIT Corporation. Dr. David, the former chief of the Bell Labs, is a member of the ten- person Executive Committee of the MIT Corporation and received his SM and ScD degrees in electrical engineering from MIT in 1947 and 1950. The NAS committee, Dr. David said, includes a broad membership ranging from a whistle-blower and "young researchers to old codgers like me." Members of the 25-person panel who are from MIT include Institute Professor John M. Deutch; Professor Sheila E. Widnall of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and Dr. Jenny L. McFarland, a postdoctoral fellow in Brain and Cognitive Sciences. -Kenneth D. Campbell