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OnlinePoker

(5,722 posts)
Tue Dec 19, 2017, 04:33 PM Dec 2017

Canadian researchers who commit scientific fraud are protected by privacy laws

Seventy-eight Canadian scientists have fabricated data, plagiarized, misused grants, or engaged in dodgy scientific practices in projects backed by public funds, a Star analysis has found.

But the publicly funded agency responsible for policing scientific fraud is keeping secret the details surrounding these researchers. The scientists’ names, where they worked and what they did wrong is not made public because that information is protected under federal privacy laws.

A Star analysis of investigation statistics obtained online and through interviews showed the oversight body — the Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research — handled 243 cases of alleged research misconduct over the past five years. From December 2011 to May 2016, 68 investigations found individuals or a team of researchers who engaged in questionable scientific practices, the secretariat said. The cases comprise both deliberate and unintentional violations.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/07/12/canadian-researchers-who-commit-scientific-fraud-are-protected-by-privacy-laws.html

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Is there a similar agency in the States? The problem with not identifying who these scientists are is it throws into question all science being done in the country because you don't know if the info you're accessing is trustworthy or not.

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