King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) confirmed its commitment to the issue of research integrity when it was named as an official supporter of the second World Conference on Research Integrity (WCRI) held in July in Singapore.

The event was hosted by Nanyang Technological University, the National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

Other official supporters included the US Office of Research Integrity, the European Science Foundation, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Research Councils UK, National Science Foundation (NSF), China Association for Science and Technology and the International Council for Science. The first WRCI was held in Lisbon in 2007.

With the success of its second conference, the WRCI has established itself as a leading global forum for debating issues on research integrity.

The “father of the computer,” mathematician and engineer Charles Babbage described four “frauds of observers” in his 1830 book entitled, “Reflections on the Decline of Science in England and on Some of its Causes.”

These were: “Hoaxing” or pretending to have made a discovery; “Forging” observations that were never made; “Trimming” inconvenient information from observations that differ from the mean; and “Cooking” or being selective in observations to arrive at a consistent set. Babbage’s concerns about fraudulent research practices resonate today.

Following the 2007 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Consensus Report on Best Practices for Ensuring Scientific Integrity and Preventing Misconduct, KAUST now categorizes such unethical activities as:

• Fabrication: making up results and recording or reporting them;
• Falsification: manipulating research, materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record; and
• Plagiarism: the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit.

Research misconduct is a worldwide problem. Its consequences can be dangerous and expensive. Greater efforts than ever are being made to expose and prevent it. Integrity in research is essential to reaping public trust in science. The diverse nature of the challenge is clear from the second WCRI.

Sessions included integrity issues in dual-use research and in the digital age, standards for journal editors, challenges for institutional leaderships, harmonizing research integrity structures in response to the globalization of research and conducting investigations into misconduct in international research collaborations.

KAUST was represented at the second WRCI by Peter Brooks, Assistant to the Senior Vice President for Economic and Technology Development, Cyndi Baily, Deputy General Counsel, Silke Blohm, Manager of the Office of Research Services, and Moody Altamimi, Associate Program Coordinator in GCR.

With Deborah Runkle of the AAAS, Peter co-chaired a session on Integrity in the Digital Age and has been invited to be a member of the committee organizing the third WRCI.

To underline the importance of research integrity – a series of sessions on the issue, presented by invited experts, is being planned for the KAUST 2011 Winter Enrichment Program.