Case Summary: Walker, Kenneth
The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) investigated and took final action in the case of Dr. Kenneth Walker from the University of Pittsburgh [case summary available via link above].
As a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pediatrics, Dr. Walker admitted that he falsified or fabricated data concerning research conducted for the NIDDK and NIH - (OMG!) The falsified data was included in two published papers, one submitted manuscript, and 2 grant applications. In a nutshell, he took quantitative data that showed essentially nothing and represented it as data that indicated a statistically significant finding of differences between control and experimental mice groups.
For a period of three years (2016 - 2019), all of his research supervised. He is responsible for developing this plan of supervision and ensuring that it is submitted and approved by ORI, as well as maintaining compliance with that plan. Any institution that employs him during that period (although I can't imagine it will be easy for him to find a position) will have to submit a certification of the veracity of his data (based on experimental design, derivation, process, methods, accurate reporting of findings). Additionally, he is not allowed to advice, serve on an advisory committee, or work as a consultant for the U.S. Public Health Service. And to round it all off, he is responsible for retraction and/or correction of the existing journal publications.
Moral of the story: Don't do it. We spend years earning the privilege to do our own research. Although the pressure to produce results, especially in well funded grant-based research, is high, it hardly seems worth it to lose your right to conduct your research independently. Although there are certainly worse outcomes that might have resulted from his actions, one would think that your odds of flourishing in higher education or related research while being legally required to have your hand held are rather slim.
The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) investigated and took final action in the case of Dr. Kenneth Walker from the University of Pittsburgh [case summary available via link above].
As a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pediatrics, Dr. Walker admitted that he falsified or fabricated data concerning research conducted for the NIDDK and NIH - (OMG!) The falsified data was included in two published papers, one submitted manuscript, and 2 grant applications. In a nutshell, he took quantitative data that showed essentially nothing and represented it as data that indicated a statistically significant finding of differences between control and experimental mice groups.
For a period of three years (2016 - 2019), all of his research supervised. He is responsible for developing this plan of supervision and ensuring that it is submitted and approved by ORI, as well as maintaining compliance with that plan. Any institution that employs him during that period (although I can't imagine it will be easy for him to find a position) will have to submit a certification of the veracity of his data (based on experimental design, derivation, process, methods, accurate reporting of findings). Additionally, he is not allowed to advice, serve on an advisory committee, or work as a consultant for the U.S. Public Health Service. And to round it all off, he is responsible for retraction and/or correction of the existing journal publications.
Moral of the story: Don't do it. We spend years earning the privilege to do our own research. Although the pressure to produce results, especially in well funded grant-based research, is high, it hardly seems worth it to lose your right to conduct your research independently. Although there are certainly worse outcomes that might have resulted from his actions, one would think that your odds of flourishing in higher education or related research while being legally required to have your hand held are rather slim.
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