Perspectives on Scholarly Misconduct in the Sciences

Edited by John M. Braxton

For almost two decades, cases of research misconduct have attracted the attention of both the academic community and the lay public. Such attention raises a fundamental question: Who holds responsibility for detecting, deterring, and sanctioning misconduct?

Perspectives on Scholarly Misconduct in the Sciences addresses this question by focusing on such topics as the social control of misconduct by the lay public, the congressional response to misconduct, the role that scientific associations and societies might play in deterring misconduct, the nature of policies and procedures universities have implemented to halt misconduct, how the graduate school socialization process can foster or deter academic malfeasance, and the response of individual academics to wrongdoing.

The book presents a framework for self-regulation, analyzes responses of universities to misconduct, and provides a workable definition of misconduct. It then looks at university-industry research collaboration as a potential source of wrongdoing and at legal issues associated with wrongdoing, finally setting forth a research agenda for studying misconduct.

Now revised and considerably expanded, this book began as a popular special issue of The Journal of Higher Education. Perspectives on Scholarly Misconduct in the Sciences is a valuable resource for scholars, university and college administrators, public policy makers, and officers of professional and academic societies interested in the development of policies to prevent scholarly misconduct.

John M. Braxton is an associate professor of education in the Department of Leadership and Organizations at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. He is also the coauthor (with Alan E. Bayer) of Faculty Misconduct in Collegiate Teaching.