IRELAND

IRELAND: Moves to identify cheating scientists

Ireland must protect against the "corruption of the scientific literature" caused by researchers who might cheat when delivering their results. Failure to do so could put people at risk and also damage the country's reputation abroad for high quality scientific work, reports Dick Ahlstrom for The Irish Times.

Adulterated research findings could have "a massive effect on public welfare", stated managing director of the Irish Council for Bioethics Dr Siobhán O'Sullivan.

The council last week published a document on protecting research findings entitled Recommendations for Promoting Research Integrity. Ireland does not have a way to investigate claims of falsified research, O'Sullivan said. "We are advocating a system that would mediate when claims were made but also support research integrity."
Full report on The Irish Times site