In all academic disciplines ' from history to the sciences ' transparency is the key to integrity. A recent report by Ohio University's Center for Automatic Identification fell short of this requirement of full and honest disclosure. OU's recent Consumer Reports-style review of several Radio Frequency Identification readers failed to disclose that a Web retailer of the devices loaned them to OU.
Kevin Berisso, the only full-time employee of the university's Center for Automatic Identification, faced an ethical dilemma. The loan was a personal favor of Karen Radde, the business manager for RFIDSupplychain.com, but it was to be kept quiet ' so manufacturers would not blame the Web retailer for their poor reviews of their devices. Berisso justified the omission this way: Very quickly
people in the industry may look at (the loan) and decide we are an extension of the company he said. So the two agreed to keep the loan under wraps because Radde didn't want irate suppliers calling her about possibly poor reviews she had essentially allowed, and Berisso wanted to avoid the appearance that such a loan might color his research. The loan was necessary, Berisso said, because the university would not have had the funds to conduct the review otherwise.
By neglecting to mention the loan, Berisso pushed the line of questionable ethics. Berisso pointed out that equipment ownership is not usually addressed in such reports. If that is the case, then maybe it should be. Arthur Zucker, the director of the university's Institute for Applied and Professional Ethics, said researchers should be open about what might be important in their research relationships, and non-disclosure can lead to the appearance of impropriety.
Zucker is right. The undisclosed loan looks worse than if it had been cited in the report. It is always better to avoid tricky ethical questions. In research, objectivity might be impossible, but good faith attributions are the next best thing.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Post executive editors.
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Recent review pinpoints undisclosed loan, proving research relationships should be open, attributed
