Scientific Record Keeping & Responsible Research Conduct

尽管几乎每个人都同意良好的记录保存在科学中是重要的，但是很少有实证研究对研究人员的记录保存实践，或者糟糕的记录保存实践对研究的完整性和质量造成的问题的程度进行研究。这项研究将有助于更好地理解记录保存在科学研究中的作用。该奖项支持前两个阶段的研究。第一阶段将记录负责调查和裁决研究不端指控的机构官员在审查研究记录时遇到的问题。这一阶段将通过半结构化的电话访谈收集信息，这将允许受访者描述遇到的最常见和最严重的问题。第一阶段还将收集有关研究记录的机构政策。第二阶段将召集四个研究人员焦点小组，审查在第一阶段确定的记录保存中潜在的问题领域，为完善规范标准提供更多信息，确定良好记录保存实践的障碍，并协助为第三阶段制定一个或多个问卷。焦点小组将有助于确保问卷或问卷解决最重要的研究记录保存问题，并确保问题的措辞清晰有效。这项初步工作的直接结果将是向NSF提交一份报告，记录访谈和焦点小组的结果，一份问卷的半决赛版本和焦点小组成员的预测试结果，以及对研究人员和学生在多个领域的记录保存实践进行全面调查的价值评估。

Although almost everyone agrees that good record keeping is important in science, little empirical research has been conducted on researchers' record keeping practices, or the degree to which poor record keeping practices create problems for the integrity and quality of research. This study will provide a better understanding of the role of record keeping in scientific research. This award supports the first two phases of the research. Phase 1 will document the problems that institutional officials who are charged with investigating and adjudicating allegations of research misconduct encounter when they examine research records. This phase will gather information via semi-structured telephone interviews, which will allow respondents to describe the most common and most serious problems encountered. Phase 1 will also collect their institutional policies concerning research records. Phase 2 will convene four focus groups of research faculty to review potential problem areas in record keeping identified in Phase 1, to provide more information for refining the normative standards, to identify barriers to good record keeping practices, and to assist in development of one or more questionnaires for Phase 3. The focus groups will help insure that the questionnaire or questionnaires address the most important research record keeping issues, and that the questions are worded clearly and effectively. The immediate outcome from this initial effort will be a report to NSF documenting the results from the interviews and focus groups, a semi-final version of the questionnaire(s) and the results of the pre-test with focus group members, and an assessment of the value of proceeding with a full survey of record keeping practices by research faculty and students in a number of fields.