Just come across this fascinating post from Jon Tierney at the New York Times.
It’s about a paper published in Science where the author did not seek to be first out with the results, at the expense of good science, but sought out competitors and collaborated with them.
Tierney’s piece prompted further comment from the scientist involved. He says, among other things:
Sadly, there is a lot of unethical competition that goes on in science. This year alone, I have heard of cases that are the scientific equivalent of insider trading, where reviewers of important papers exploit their access to privileged data to gain unfair advantages in the “race” to the next big discovery. I have heard of researchers being ignored when they request published materials from scientists.
… unethical behavior of this kind is common in science and is usually perpetrated with a proud smile in the name of “competition.” ….By bringing others on board, I turned my competitors turn into collaborators. The paper is better as a result and no one got scooped. A good ethical choice led to a more competitive product.
… What I’d like to see implemented are rewards for ethical behavior and consequences for unethical behavior. If you knew you might not get a grant funded because you had a track record of unethical practices, then you’d start behaving.
Wow. Great. Discuss.
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