Dear Forum,
Several years ago, there was a huge scientific misconduct scandal at Duke University that made national news. However, what wasn't reported was the back story of this scandal. There are many innocent victims of scientific misconduct just trying to do their jobs; yet they lose time away from the bench dealing with an investigation and often lose their jobs due to the unethical behavior of others.
Sadly, the whistle blower and coworkers,trying to do what is right, are often marginalized and even fired. Innocent coworkers are stigmatized and their work is considered merit-less by their peers. Positive references are lost when their PI is reprimanded. I can only imagine what it was like for innocent staff members in the Nevins lab who did excellent work.
In recent years, there has been a rise in the incidences of scientific misconduct due to the pressures to publish and the competitiveness of NIH/NSF funding (see Ferric PNAS). Many cases of misconduct are ignored (i.e. never heard of or swept under the rug) due to the fact the University administrators don't want to disrupt the flow of grant money. Complicating matters, the balance of power favors the PI and laws often protect the University not the innocent. For example, many state Universities are protected by sovereign immunity which supersedes any whistle blower protection statutes. Thus, the whistle blowers and innocent coworkers become the collateral damage of such scandals.
Here is the story about the whistle blower in the Anil Potti Duke Scandal:
http://www.cancerletter.com/articles/20150109_1
http://www.cancerletter.com/articles/20150116_1
Incident of scientific misconduct:
http://www.pnas.org/content/109/42/17028.full
My questions for the forum:
What would you do if you knew that a coworker was fabricating data?
What would you do if a PI included fabricated data in a NIH grant proposal?
What would you do if you raised your concerns about inconsistencies in one's research data only to be marginalized by your PI, HR, or the University administration?
Would you just leave, say nothing, and find another lab? Especially, if you had just done your thesis in this lab.
Do you have an ethical obligation to report your concerns?
How do you preserve your career w/o being a victim of collateral damage if you are an innocent coworker?