Publication
Published on: April 9, 2026
Published in: Science
Description: Mark Barnes, Faculty Co-Director of the MRCT Center and partner at Ropes & Gray, co-authored “More Transparency Needed on Misconduct” in Science with Michael Lauer, former Deputy Director of Extramural Research at the National Institutes of Health and member of the MRCT Center External Advisory Board. The editorial argues that scientists found to have committed research or professional misconduct too often resign quietly and move to new institutions that are unaware of their history, perpetuating a cycle that erodes public trust in science. The authors propose a confidential national scientist databank, modeled on the National Practitioner Data Bank established for the medical profession in 1990, that would require research institutions to report findings of misconduct and query the databank before hiring, enabling transparency without functioning as an automatic bar to employment.
Michael Lauer, Mark Barnes, More transparency needed on misconduct.Science 392,127-127(2026).DOI:10.1126/science.aeh7187