Sir, – Conor O’Carroll (Science Today, February 23rd) gives readers a tour of a proposed “research integrity” policy. We know plagiarism is wrong. We know falsification of data is wrong. We tell our students this. We penalise those who do copy or cheat. Academic institutions punish those who transgress this code.
The document created under the mantle of the Irish Universities Association forms part, regrettably, of a wider societal tendency to “policy up” well understood ethical precepts. Time and money is spent on stating the very obvious at very great length. This allows those who do so to duck the underlying issues. Do people copy because they are under undue pressure? Do they churn out dodgy work because they fear loss of tenure-track or research income? Does endless ranking create endless low grade writing? It is always easier to preach than to prevent. It is always easier to have policies than to tackle issues. – Yours, etc,