Handling of scientific dishonesty in the Nordic countries

Despite a widely recognised need, most countries still have no coherent sys tem to deal with scientific misconduct. Committees have been established by the national medical research councils in Denmark (1992), Norway (1994), a nd Sweden (1997), and by the Ministry of Education in Finland (1994), to de al with scientific misconduct-ie, to initiate preventive measures, to inves tigate alleged cases, or both. Each committee includes both scientifically and legally qualified members. The employing institutions are responsible f or possible sanctions or punishments. So far, 47 cases have been accepted f or investigation, the majority (25) being Danish. Disputed authorship was t he most frequent reason for investigation. Junior researchers made complain ts in only three of the investigated cases. Investigations have been comple ted in 37 cases; in nine cases, dishonesty was revealed-two of them were re lated to the same researchers. Cooperation between the four Nordic committe es has shown close agreement on specific issues and cases, despite minor di fferences in definitions, organisation, and procedures.