Ethical Issue: As The New York Times reported, “Every day, on average, a scientific paper is retracted because of misconduct.” Two percent of scientists are willing to admit that they have manipulated their data to suit their purposes. Considering that researchers publish about 2 million articles each year, 2 percent is not a negligible number. The Office of Research Integrity within the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services has cracked down on at least a dozen researchers for irregularities such as plagiarism and fabrication of results.25 What might motivate such misconduct, and why is it a serious offense? (L.O. 2)