On the other hand, universities have been seen as places where genuinely independent academic research is pursued, with no loyalties except to the truth. But Professor Steven Rose, from the Open University, UK, is worried that this is no longer the case. I think there is a very real problem with university research in the way private companies have entered the universities, both with direct companies in the universities and with contracts to university researchers. The whole climate of what might be open and independent scientific research has now disappeared, so the old idea that universities are a place of independence has gone. Instead of which, one's got secrecy, one's got patents, one's' got contracts, one's got shareholders.
Many organisations now require researchers to follow specific guidelines.
The UK's Medical Research Council, for example, has just published a Guide on the Principles of Good Research Practice. The overwhelming feeling at the festival debate was that scientists should be free to talk openly about any fraud and misconduct they encountered. The scientists who attended said they were deeply concerned that unless research was seen to be honest then an already sceptical public would lose faith in the value of their scientific endeavours. Snails battle senility Arthur C Clarke demands cold fusion rethink Links to top Festival of science stories are at the foot of the page.