Swedish Research Council to blacklist cheats

Pär Omling, Director General of the Swedish Research Council has imposed measures to prevent cheating in the form of plagiarism, falsification, or inventing results. Researchers - if found guilty of cheating will face being blacklisted from funding opportunities for up to 10 years.

Although keen to stress that this measure will only be used on the minority of researchers, the Swedish Research Council are keen to stamp out any falsification of research results.

The Swedish Research Council is Sweden’s largest financer of basic research and take fraudulent research very seriously. Pär Omling has stated “It is absolutely vital for us to be able to trust that research findings are based on knowledge that the researchers themselves have generated and that can be scientifically verified. Cheaters undermine our trust not only in themselves but in all research, which is why we want to take such a strong stand on the issue.”

Depending on the severity of the claim, lead researchers found guilty of cheating will have their current grant receded and could be ineligible to receive funding for the following 2-10 years. The ‘blacklist’ will only affect the lead researcher, not the entire research team. “Of course, this pertains only to a tiny number of individuals,” says Pär Omling. “But with these regulations we nevertheless want to make it perfectly clear how we view research fraud. The tax moneys we allocate to research must not go to individuals who have betrayed our trust.”

These new measures have been announced just a few days after the Council has pledged to spend more money on research. “For several years the Swedish Research Council had the ambition to increase the average size of grants in order to take greater financial responsibility for projects it is funding. The decision to raise the average size of project grants clearly demonstrates the Swedish Research Council´s continued ambition to shoulder more responsibility for ‘its´ researchers," said Pär Omling.

For more information about the Swedish Research Council and their activities, please visit http://www.vr.se

Published: Thursday, 7th October 2010 by Adelle Kehoe