User:NeptunePlayss/Whistleblowing

Definition and Overview:
 * 1) Whistleblowing is the act of exposing or reporting information about unethical, illegal, or morally unacceptable activities, typically within an organization or institution, to relevant authorities, the public, or other concerned parties. The United States Department of Health and Human Services, which is the largest funder of biomedical research and the primary regulatory agency, defines a whistleblower as an individual who reports an allegation or claim while still being a member of the institution that allegedly committed scientific misconduct.
 * 2) Types of Scientific Wrongdoings:
 * 3) * Research Fraudulence involves data, processes, or observations that were never there to begin with or later added on to fit a claim or narrative. A case involving the scientific community engaging in research fraudulence is that of Dr. Cyril Burt. Dr Cyril Burt is a British psychologist who proposed that he had discovered a heritable factor for intelligence based on studying twins. Dr. Oliver Gillie, a former colleague of Dr. Burt, inquired about Dr. Burt’s work, doubting the authenticity of the data and the certain twins that Dr. Burt was basing his research on. Dr. Gillies's inquiry revealed that there were discrepancies to Dr. Burt’s work with inconsistencies in the twin's birth dates  particularly with the absence of records for twins to participate in the study, the falsification of data, and the “invention of crucial facts to support his controversial theory that intelligence is largely inherited.”   This led to the eventual retraction of Dr. Burt’s work.
 * 4) * Data manipulation is the changing or omitting of data or outcomes in such a way that the research is not accurately portrayed in the research record. Dr. Hwang Woo-Suk, a South Korean stem cell researcher gained international recognition for his groundbreaking work on cloning and stem cell research. Dr. Woo-Suk had a claim to successfully clone human embryos and derived patient-specific stem cell lines, forwarding the field of regenerative medicine which was published in the Journal of Science. Dr. Kim Seon-Jung expressed his concerns regarding the accuracy of the research data and the ethical conduct of the experiments. Independent committees, as well as journalists, scrutinized the research data and methodology leading to an eventual retraction of his work.
 * 5) * Ethical violations can fall under the following: altering or making up new data to meet a specific goal, adjusting how data is shown or explained, looking at data in a biased manner, and leaving out parts about data analysis and conclusions. Dr. Paolo Macchiarini is well-known within the scientific community as a thoracic surgeon and former regenerative researcher. Dr Macchiarini claimed to have made profound advancements in trachea transplantation by using synthetic tracheal scaffolds planted with the patient’s own stem cells. The goal was that the stem cells would eventually provide the patient with a suitable replacement trachea. Dr. Karl-Henrik Grinnemo, a member of Dr. Machiarini’s research team, raised concerns about the accuracy of the reported results and the ethical conduct of the experiments. Dr. Macchiarini’s ethical violations include exaggeration of success, failure to disclose the adverse post-operational effects, and complications of the surgery. Patients experienced severe health problems with several dying post-surgery. The acts of Dr. Macchiarini led to the retractions of research articles from the Lancet, the termination of his academic positions, and criminal inquiries in Sweden. It also sparked concerns over the supervision and control of clinical trials utilizing experimental techniques.
 * 6) Whistleblower Protection Laws and Policies:
 * 7) * Office of the Whistleblowers OMBUDS touches on the protections and policies focusing on Federal Scientist Whistleblowing. In 2012, Congress amended the Whistleblowing Protection ACT to include disclosures of censorships related to research, analysis, or technical information.
 * 8) * GovInfo defines censorship as “…any effort to distort, misrepresent, or suppress research, analysis, or technical information.”
 * 9) Whistleblower Organizations and Support:
 * 10) * The National Whistleblower Center is a nonprofit determined to protect and reward whistleblowers around the world. The NWC advocates for whistleblower protection rights, educates the public on what a whistleblower is, and gives a platform in which whistleblowers can expose unethical behaviors.
 * 11) * The Government Accountability Project aims to promote corporate and government accountability by protecting whistleblowers’ rights, advancing occupational free speech, and empowering citizen activists.
 * 12) * The Union of Concerned Scientists is a national nonprofit organization that raises awareness of scientific integrity, ethical research practices, protection and advocation of whistleblower rights and exposes potential public deception.
 * 13) Reference