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research setting, but these are addressed
through other laws and regulations and are
not considered scientific misconduct (e.g.,
theft, harassment, and discrimination).

Prevention Strategies
Some believe that if staff or colleagues want
to dupe you, they will. This is not necessari-
ly true; prevention can work. Simply let
your staff and partners know that you per-
sonally verify data and any corrections.
Then do it, and let them see you doing it.

Ask questions about stray marks or era-
sures. If electronic data are written over or
corrected, find out why. The expectation of
monitoring lets potential fabricators know
that they are likely to be caught without
even mentioning misconduct.
Encourage the immediate entry of all
information into notebooks, and double
check data entered after a significant delay.
Discuss tardy write-ups with the team and
determine if the study should be repeated to
minimize selective recall or reporting of pro-
cedures or results.
Arrange a consultation with your institu-
tion’s computer expert to learn about data
security options for your lab. Explore mark-
ing electronic lab notebook entries with date,
time, and user identification. Regularly back-
up these and other electronic files, then date
and save the historic versions in a separate
secure area. These procedures protect you
against computer crashes and natural disas-
ters, as well as simultaneously providing a

data trail to discourage or document inappro-
priate changes. Consider limiting access to
certain electronic files so they may be read
and used, but not copied or altered. These
protections could avoid unauthorized
changes and distribution. Similarly, don’t let
staff members install idiosyncratic or undoc-
umented security options that could jeopard-
ize your appropriate access. If that team
member became incapacitated through ill-
ness or accident, you could be locked out of
your own files.
Not all labs are ready for electronic note-
books, so the old standby of using notebooks
with bound spines or binders with distinctive
paper can make the substitution of pages on
the sly very onerous. Careful individuals also
keep dated copies of these notebooks in a sec-
ond secure location.
Set a tone of respect for the research proto-
col. Avoid hyperbole and jokes about getting
the results no matter what. Someone could
confuse your humor with pressure to gener-
ate findings through falsification, skimping
on animal or biohazard protections, improp-
er analyses, or misleading interpretations of
results.

Inoculate staff against the temptation to
find a “better” way to run the study mid-
stream. Let them know you want to hear their
ideas for the next study, but that fidelity to
the current design is essential. Remind them
that the current design is the only one
approved by the institution’s animal care and
use committee. Explain what an unrecog-
nized or unreported shift in procedures does
to the study’s analysis and interpretation.

Someone could confuse your
humor with pressure to generate
findings.

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY


CHAPTER 3 • SCIENTIFIC CITIZENSHIP 141

Let your staff and partners know
that you personally verify data
and any corrections. Then do it,
and let them see you doing it.
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