This award supports a planning committee effort to consider strategies by which behavioral and social science journal editors might help to reduce misconduct in their sciences. The planning effort will examine prior research and related efforts, consider how to broaden involvement to include a wide range of behavioral and social science disciplines, and define the problems and activities that would respond to them appropriately. Two committee meetings are planned. The first will develop an understanding of the current status of ethical, legal, methodological, editorial and public policy issues with respect to scientific misconduct in the behavioral and social sciences. It will plan the work activities for the second meeting and make assignments for work to be done preceding that meeting. At the second meeting, the committee will develop a needs assessment and a set of recommendations for action and activities that should follow. Afterwards, staff and committee members will work together to prepare a report that will summarize the current status of efforts to minimize misconduct in the target sciences, identify gaps in the current effort, and recommend further actions to address the problems. The report will be disseminated to relevant governmental agencies and officials and to behavioral and social scientists and journal editors. This project focuses on an important issue. The principal investigators and planning committee members are very well qualified; planning activities are appropriate and feasible; the sponsoring organization is very appropriate; results will provide an important basis for actions that can help to reduce misconduct in the behavioral and social sciences. Support is highly recommended.
