Integrity in Science is expected, as well as ethical behavior. Academic freedom is linked to academic tenure , therefore in order to get a tenure a professor needs to prove that she/he can teach, do research (publish) and serve.
What happens in institutions where the professors need to do research and with it bring money or awards to prove that they deserve the tenure? Getting money becomes a challenge and can potentially develop ethical dilemmas.
The requirements to reach a tenure may create a conflict of effort among young scientists that are no just trying to be recognized by their effort but also need to prove themselves in order to get a stable and secure job. Can we think that some cases of academic misconduct in research are due to this conflict of effort?
More about what is research misconduct and how to avoid it here: misconduct-brochure.
Education on ethical behavior (IRB , the Nuremberg and Helsinki codes ) and good mentorship could be the key to create a balance among teaching, research, service and therefore prevent misconduct.
Mentors are the ones that are “supposed” to guide new scientists in the whole process and to help them to build a network and professional health, being a mentor is a hard job for a person that is going through a tenure track. Can we assume that new scientists were taught well, when we are not certain about their previous relationship with their mentors?
