Representative misconduct, voter perceptions and accountability: Evidence from the 2009 House of Commons expenses scandal.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Vivyan N
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3617916 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Increasing complexity and multidisciplinarity make collaboration essential for modern science. This, however, raises the question of how to assign accountability for scientific misconduct among larger teams of authors. Biomedical societies and science associations have put forward various sets of guidelines. Some state that all authors are jointly accountable for the integrity of the work. Others stipulate that authors are only accountable for their own contribution. Alternatively, there are guarantor type models that assign accountability to a single author. We contribute to this debate by analyzing the outcomes of 80 scientific misconduct investigations of biomedical scholars conducted by the U.S. Office of Research Integrity (ORI). We show that the position of authors on the byline of 184 publications involved in misconduct cases correlates with responsibility for the misconduct. Based on a series of binary regression models, we show that first authors are 38% more likely to be responsible for scientific misconduct than authors listed in the middle of the byline (p<0.01). Corresponding authors are 14% more likely (p<0.05). These findings suggest that a guarantor-like model where first authors are ex-ante accountable for misconduct is highly likely to not miss catching the author responsible, while not afflicting too many bystanders.
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Project description:Voters may be unable to hold politicians to account if they lack basic information about their representatives' performance. Civil society groups and international donors therefore advocate using voter information campaigns to improve democratic accountability. Yet, are these campaigns effective? Limited replication, measurement heterogeneity, and publication biases may undermine the reliability of published research. We implemented a new approach to cumulative learning, coordinating the design of seven randomized controlled trials to be fielded in six countries by independent research teams. Uncommon for multisite trials in the social sciences, we jointly preregistered a meta-analysis of results in advance of seeing the data. We find no evidence overall that typical, nonpartisan voter information campaigns shape voter behavior, although exploratory and subgroup analyses suggest conditions under which informational campaigns could be more effective. Such null estimated effects are too seldom published, yet they can be critical for scientific progress and cumulative, policy-relevant learning.
| S-EPMC6609214 | biostudies-literature
Project description:There is increased concern about perverse incentives, quantitative performance metrics, and hyper-competition for funding and faculty positions in US academia. Recipients of the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships (n = 244) from Civil and Environmental Engineering (45.5%) and Computer Science and Engineering (54.5%) were anonymously surveyed to create a baseline snapshot of their perceptions, behaviors and experiences. NSF Fellows ranked scientific advancement as the top metric for evaluating academics followed by publishing in high-impact journals, social impact of research, and publication/citation counts. The self-reported rate of academic cheating was 16.7% and of research misconduct was 3.7%. Thirty-one percent of fellows reported direct knowledge of graduate peers cheating, and 11.9% had knowledge of research misconduct by colleagues. Only 30.7% said they would report suspected misconduct. A majority of fellows (55.3%) felt that mandatory ethics trainings left them unprepared for dealing with ethical issues. Fellows stated academic freedom, flexible schedules and opportunity to mentor students were the most positive aspects of academia, whereas pressures for funding, publication, and tenure were cited as the most negative aspects. These data may be useful in considering how to better prepare STEM graduate trainees for academic careers.
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Project description:OBJECTIVES:The purpose of this study was to assess (1) the overall mental health of Members of Parliament (MPs) and (2) awareness among MPs of the mental health support services available to them in Parliament. DESIGN:An anonymous self-completed online cross-sectional survey was conducted in December 2016. SETTING:56th UK House of Commons. PARTICIPANTS:All 650 members of the 56th UK House of Commons were invited to participate; 146 MPs (23%) completed the survey. OUTCOMES:The General Health Questionnaire-12 was used to assess age- and sex-standardised prevalence of probable common mental disorders (CMD). Results were compared with a nationally representative survey, the Health Survey for England (HSE) 2014. Core demographic questions, MPs' awareness of available mental health services, their willingness to discuss mental health issues with party Whips and fellow MPs and the effects of employment outside Parliament were assessed. RESULTS:Comparison of MP respondents with HSE comparator groups found that MPs have higher rates of mental health problems (age- and sex-standardised prevalence of probable CMD in 49 surveyed MPs 34% (95% CI 27% to 42%) versus 17% (95% CI 13% to 21%) in the high-income comparison group). Survey respondents were younger, more likely to be female and more educated compared with all MPs. 77% of MPs (n=112) did not know how to access in-house mental health support. 52% (n=76) would not discuss their mental health with party Whips or other MPs (48%; n=70). CONCLUSIONS:MPs in the study sample had higher rates of mental health problems than rates seen in the whole English population or comparable occupational groups. Most surveyed MPs are unaware of mental health support services or how to access them. Our findings represent a relatively small sample of MPs. There is a need for MPs to have better awareness of, and access to, mental health support.
| S-EPMC6609039 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In 2009, the UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee (STC) conducted an 'evidence check' on homeopathy to evaluate evidence for its effectiveness. In common with the wider literature critical of homeopathy, the STC report seems to endorse many of the strong claims that are made about its implausibility. In contrast with the critical literature, however, the STC report explicitly does not place any weight on implausibility in its evaluation. I use the contrasting positions of the STC and the wider critical literature to examine the 'implausibility arguments' against homeopathy and the place of such arguments within evidence-based medicine (EBM). I argue that the STC report undervalues its strong claims about the mechanistic plausibility of homeopathy because it relies on a misunderstanding about the role of mechanistic evidence within EBM. This is not a conclusion for a revision of the role mechanistic evidence plays within EBM, however. It is a conclusion about the inconsistency of the STC report's position towards implausibility arguments, given the evidential claims they endorse and the atypical situation that homeopathy presents. It provides a further example of the general point that mechanistic reasoning should not be seen as providing categorically lower quality evidence.
| S-EPMC5522507 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundResearch on research integrity has tended to focus on frequency of research misconduct and factors that might induce someone to commit research misconduct. A definitive answer to the first question has been elusive, but it remains clear that any research misconduct is too much. Answers to the second question are so diverse, it might be productive to ask a different question: What about how research is done allows research misconduct to occur?MethodsWith that question in mind, research integrity officers (RIOs) of the 62 members of the American Association of Universities were invited to complete a brief survey about their most recent instance of a finding of research misconduct. Respondents were asked whether one or more good practices of research (e.g., openness and transparency, keeping good research records) were present in their case of research misconduct.ResultsTwenty-four (24) of the respondents (39% response rate) indicated they had dealt with at least one finding of research misconduct and answered the survey questions. Over half of these RIOs reported that their case of research misconduct had occurred in an environment in which at least nine of the ten listed good practices of research were deficient.ConclusionsThese results are not evidence for a causal effect of poor practices, but it is arguable that committing research misconduct would be more difficult if not impossible in research environments adhering to good practices of research.
| S-EPMC7731550 | biostudies-literature
Project description:There is a demonstrated relationship between couples' division of household chores-and, to a lesser extent, the division of shared expenses-and their relationship quality. Less is known, however, about whether and how individuals' perceived fairness of these arrangements is associated with couples' relationships in different ways. Using a gendered equity framework, and drawing on 10,236 responses collected via an online national news website, this study examines how equity evaluations of housework and shared expenses are related to relationship satisfaction and sex frequency among different-gender household partners. Consistent with previous findings, the results indicate that evaluations of unfairness to oneself are a stronger predictor of relationship quality than perceived unfairness to one's partner. Additionally, fairness evaluations over shared expenses are a stronger predictor of relationship quality than perceived equity in housework. Incorporating notions about traditional gender norms and expectations into the justice framework, the results point to some variation in relationship outcomes based on men's and women's differential equity evaluations.
| S-EPMC6426245 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveVoting in professional associations is critical for selecting leaders who will implement a desirable vision for an association. Members of the Medical Library Association (MLA) were surveyed to assess their attitudes and perceptions of the voting process to elect the MLA national offices of president and members of the Board of Directors and Nominating Committee. Survey data were also used to test the hypothesis that committed MLA members are more likely to always vote.MethodsSurveyMonkey was used to deliver a 46-question survey to 2,671 email addresses of MLA members who were eligible to vote. Survey data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative approaches.ResultsA total of 676 responses were received, resulting in a 25% response rate. Respondents indicated that the most desired qualities in candidates included experience in professional positions, contributions to MLA, and a vision for the association, whereas candidates' personal characteristics were rarely considered. Respondents expressed doubts about the use of a single slate, had positive views of campaigning but were doubtful about its impact, and were generally accepting of the current voting process. Committed MLA members were significantly more likely to always vote in MLA national elections.ConclusionsThe survey results provide insight into understanding the concerns and motivations of MLA voters and add to the limited literature on professional association voting.
| S-EPMC7441894 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundAt the 2015 REWARD/EQUATOR conference on research waste, the late Doug Altman revealed that his only regret about his 1994 BMJ paper 'The scandal of poor medical research' was that he used the word 'poor' rather than 'bad'. But how much research is bad? And what would improve things?Main textWe focus on randomised trials and look at scale, participants and cost. We randomly selected up to two quantitative intervention reviews published by all clinical Cochrane Review Groups between May 2020 and April 2021. Data including the risk of bias, number of participants, intervention type and country were extracted for all trials included in selected reviews. High risk of bias trials was classed as bad. The cost of high risk of bias trials was estimated using published estimates of trial cost per participant. We identified 96 reviews authored by 546 reviewers from 49 clinical Cochrane Review Groups that included 1659 trials done in 84 countries. Of the 1640 trials providing risk of bias information, 1013 (62%) were high risk of bias (bad), 494 (30%) unclear and 133 (8%) low risk of bias. Bad trials were spread across all clinical areas and all countries. Well over 220,000 participants (or 56% of all participants) were in bad trials. The low estimate of the cost of bad trials was £726 million; our high estimate was over £8 billion. We have five recommendations: trials should be neither funded (1) nor given ethical approval (2) unless they have a statistician and methodologist; trialists should use a risk of bias tool at design (3); more statisticians and methodologists should be trained and supported (4); there should be more funding into applied methodology research and infrastructure (5).ConclusionsMost randomised trials are bad and most trial participants will be in one. The research community has tolerated this for decades. This has to stop: we need to put rigour and methodology where it belongs - at the centre of our science.
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Project description:ᅟ: Some tumor cells can evolve into transmissible parasites. Notable examples include the Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease, the canine transmissible venereal tumor and transmissible cancers of mollusks. We present a hypothesis that such transmissible tumors existed in the past and that some modern animal taxa are descendants of these tumors. We expect potential candidates for SCANDALs (speciated by cancer development animals) to be simplified relatives of more complex metazoans and have genomic alterations typical for cancer progression (such as deletions of universal apoptosis genes). We considered several taxa of simplified animals for our hypothesis: dicyemida, orthonectida, myxosporea and trichoplax. Based on genomic analysis we conclude that Myxosporea appear to be the most suitable candidates for a tumor ancestry. They are simplified parasitic cnidarians that universally lack major genes implicated in cancer progression including all genes with Caspase and BCL2 domains as well as any p53 and apoptotic protease activating factor - 1 (Apaf-1) homologs, suggesting the disruption of main apoptotic pathways in their early evolutionary history. Further comparative genomics and single-cell transcriptomic studies may be helpful to test our hypothesis of speciation via a cancerous stage. REVIEWERS: This article was reviewed by Eugene Koonin, Mikhail Gelfand and Gregory M Woods.
| S-EPMC6343361 | biostudies-literature