Table 3.
Quality assessment of institutions’ reports on the investigation of research integrity
| Institutiona | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| Scope | |||
| Includes executive summary | No | No | No |
| Clear and understandable | In part | In part | In part |
| Allegations clearly presented | In part | No | No |
| Charge to committee clearly described | No | No | No |
| Scope sufficient to address scientific integrity issues | No | No | No |
| Investigative committee | |||
| Appropriately constituted | Cannot assess | Cannot assess | Cannot assess |
| Any external members | Yes | Yes | Cannot assess |
| Potential conflicts of interest reviewed | No | No | No |
| Report indicates standards of due process and confidentiality followed | No | No | No |
| Respondent had opportunity to identify conflicts | Cannot assess | Cannot assess | Cannot assess |
| Any concern that committee lacked expertise and resources | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Evidence | |||
| Report indicates evidence sequestered and protected | No | No | No |
| Description of evidence considered | In part | In part | In part |
| Respondent offered opportunity to respond | Cannot assess | Cannot assess | Cannot assess |
| Committee considered and addressed whether important evidence was unavailable | In part | Cannot assess | In part |
| Explanation for failure to review seemingly pertinent evidence | In part | No | No |
| Need for further evidence or additional analysis | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| List of individuals interviewed | No | No | No |
| Should others have been interviewed | Cannot assess | Cannot assess | Yes |
| Additional questions that should have been asked or evidence examined to reach a supportable conclusion | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Conclusion | |||
| Report clearly states findings | Yes | In part | In part |
| Report clearly states conclusions | Yes | In part | In part |
| Evidence fully support conclusions | Cannot assess | No | No |
| Articulates and applies institutional policies | No | No | No |
| Recommendations clear and supported by report | No | No | No |
| Report describes and addresses requirements of external sponsors’ regulations | No | No | No |
| Overall assessment | Not acceptable | Not acceptable | Not acceptable |
Derived from Gunsalus et al. Components considered to be adequately addressed are in italic type
aInstitution 3 has not reported the results of its investigation