Research Misconduct And Its Prevention & Regulation System: A Study On Theory And Paradigm

During the Knowledge-base economy times when developped countries have finished the turn from the academic science to the post academic science, the trend of integration among S&T and economy is growing enhanced,along with technological activity having been the center of all social ones,especially utilitarian motive has become the most primary power in scientific research.All of these have resulted in scientists'contending against the technological resources with life-and-death, furtherly momentous research misconduct events occurred continually, they becoming more and more rampant, and it has beacome a hotspot, focus,difficulty and great puzzle all over the world. Therefore,with the theory and method of interdisciplinary sciences, both of them will have extraordinary important theoretical values and operation significances:(1)to systematically research the conceptual frame, complex and various causalities,principal paradigms and their perspective transition about research misconduct in theory; (2)to profoundly anlyse,objectively evaluate and fully use for reference with some successful experiences on the guidelines determination, strategy decision-making, institution design, system arrangement, mechanism and procedure operation of the United States in paradigm, for construction of the Chinese prevention and regulation system against research misconduct, positively responding to the serious challenge from the events of research misconduct, real and effective solution of its present principal problems.It constitutes a conceptual frame to rethink about definition, basic features and types of reearch misconduct.Reseach misconduct resulted from the interaction relationships of factors among microcosmic individual layer,middle-cosmic professional community and technological orgnizations, and macroscopical layer of social circumstance, may bring great harmness either about the intrests and fames for oneselves done misconduct,cooperators,others peers,professional communities and even institution itself within social institution of science,or about material and mental harmness for funding research agencies, social institutions,cultural ideas, and even common publics have not trusted on it because of loss of science purity outside. To explore research misconduct there are three major theoretical paradigms and analytical perspectives which are respectively set up by Robert King Merton about the normative structure of the academic science consisted of Communism, Universality, Disinterestedness, Originality and Scepticism (CUDOS),by John Ziman on the normative structure of the postacademic science consisted of Proprietary, Local, Authoritarian, Commissioned and Expert(PLACE), and by some experts on research integrity through the National Academies'organization.Being a kind of uniform relationship between history and logic among these theories represents either a transitions and innovation based on historical inheritance,or respective dependence,coexistence and supplement one another on a logic basic.All of above may not only describle a whole epistemology view to systematically hold research misconduct,but also provide an important guidelines and logic basic for the United States to construct its integrative system of prevention and regulation against research misconduct.In according with the law on the evolution of research misconduct,the transition of two kinds of different strategies responsing to research misconduct were successively implemented by the Amerrican government.The first strategy transition was an single punishment mean from professional ethics to public polices, and the second one was from public policy to a systematic prevention and regulation with all kinds of means including professional ethic,laws, codes and regulations. In the United States the system of prevention and regulation against research misconduct mainly include the following two parts:(1)the first one is consist of policies,codes and regulations directly stating against research misconduct;(2)the second one is that include such as policies on subjects protection and annimals wellfare at experiment, data management, conflict of interest, responsibilities of Supervisors and trainees, cooperative research,authorship and publication,peer review close related to research misconduct.The two parts are either severally dependent or mutual supplement each other,and they has some formative and social functions including punishment, education,prevention and so on against research misconduct. They can provide either a right guidelines, or a firm organizational foundation and a powerful institutional ensure for the layer mechanism of oversee and administration against research misconduct to operate at a health, order and effective way in the United States.A finding of research misconduct made under this part requires:(a) there be a significant departure from accepted practices of the relevant research community; and (b) the misconduct be committed intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly;and (c) the allegation be proven by a preponderance of the evidence. The determination against a research misconduct must follow not only the administrative procedure step by step from allegation to allegation assessment, inquiry, investigation, correlative agency's oversight and review and sanctions,etc., but also the legal procedure step by step from appeal to hearing and judicial decision.Along the healthy, order and effective layer mechanism of oversee and administration, with the prompt, fair and confidential procedure on investigating and processing research misconduct, both of them can provide an important ensuring effect for the rights and obligations stated by above systems. Moreover, all of above made the United States become a typical state paradigm dealing with research misconduct all over the world by the nature of things.Faced with a extraordinary severe challenge from research misconduct events, China herself has not only established and implemented a unique prevention and regulation system dealing with research misconduct,but also gained some more remarkable achievements.Being an increasingly open and drastically competition international society,as long as China dared to be up against such a challenge and was good at learning from those useful experiences of the United States,it would be able to realize the final and long-term goal either of reducing amounts and harms at research misconduct events,or at large promoting integrity consciousness,levels of academic moral and scientific ethic.