Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026

An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime
Published on: May 3, 2016
Witnesses to research wrongdoing
1California State University, East Bay, USA. joan.sieber@sbcglobal.net
Abstract:
Research wrongdoing undermines scientific integrity, occurs widely, and takes many forms. We interviewed 135 NIH principal investigators who reported witnessing and responding to research wrongdoing. They reported taking a variety of actions, including formal notification of institutional officials, peer shaming, and one-on-one discussions with their peers to address wrongdoing that ranged from improper attribution of authorship to falsification, fabrication, and plagiarism. Unexpectedly, administrative mismanagement in handling allegations appeared more prevalent than any of the other forms of wrongdoing reported. Institutions may lack effective or efficient processes for managing even the most egregious cases of research wrongdoing. To assist institutions in designing effective, nimble programs, we suggest resources from which institutional officials may draw.
Related Concept Videos
Eyewitness Memory
One such error is memory distortion, which occurs because human memory does not function like a...
Ethics in Research
Bystander Effect
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Bias
In statistics, a sampling bias is created when a sample is collected from a population, and some members of the population are not as likely to be chosen as others (remember, each member...
Naturalistic Observations

