06/09/05

Up to a third of scientists have engaged in ethically questionable practices over the last three years, according to a survey published in today's issue of the British science journal Nature. The surveyed behaviors range from extremely serious acts such as fraud and plagiarism -- which were committed by only a fraction of a percent to 1. 4 percent, respectively -- to acts that are ethically far more ambiguous, such as ignoring data that contradict one's theory. The survey does not necessarily mean that one-third of all the biomedical scientists surveyed are guilty of misconduct. ... Still, [it] suggests that science is becoming so competitive and so dominated by big business that many scientists repeatedly find themselves faced by uncomfortable ethical choices -- and the decisions they make may not always be the wisest...

http://tinyurl.com/a8u4g

from San Francisco Chronicle


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp


http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=betrayal