Achieving good science: The integrity of scientific institutions

There are worries about the quality of scientific research, the validity
of the knowledge it produces and the integrity of academics. What is
lacking in the debate is what scientists have to say and what they do
to create and safeguard what they see as ‘good science’. Using Dutch
academia as a case, we show that the academics’ understandings of
scientific practice differ in vital ways from those of policy makers.
Policy maker’s understanding of academia as a competitive marketplace
to foster innovative research disturbs the everyday ethics
and creativity of scientific work according to the scientists, who see
academia as a collective practice aimed at understanding the world
in which tradition and innovation have to find a balance. We conclude
that this misunderstanding and its consequences do more to
damage research integrity than fraudulent activities of individual
researchers.