Serving the Sentence and More

Over at The Scientist there's an article about how aftereffects of scientific misconduct —even after a scientist completed their term of disbarment imposed by the Office of Research Integrity — persist. In the age of Google, the article says, the reprimands received sometimes long ago are easily found and have lingering effects on that scientist's career. At Adventures in Ethics and Science, Janet Stemwedel discusses the article and then gives some of her own insight. "Given the amount of information available online, it's unlikely that scientists who have been caught in misconduct can fly completely under the radar. … But if this is transparency following upon actions that deceived one's scientific community, it might be the start of effective remediation," she writes. "Admitting that you have broken trust may be the first real step in earning that trust back."