Table 4 Outcomes and characteristic responses
Characteristic responses | Number of cases (N=) | Whistleblowing/Reporting | |
|---|---|---|---|
Non-action | “No, I can’t because of hierarchy. It is a superior and denouncing could have a negative impact on my job”, “no idea [where] I can report this” | 24 | N/A |
Action (total) | 124 | ||
Success | “I feel really good about the way it was handled: the swift response of the committee; the way in which the member of the committee helped me walk through the options of what to do etc.”, “The person got fired […] the whole field changed its way of conducting research and dealing with data” | 30 | 25 |
Failure | “Was told everyone should be on all papers […] would have risked career if I had been more vocal”, “The department head covered the person who plagiarised. […] I was told the case was not serious enough because the work had not been published” | 58 | 27 |
Ambiguous | “paper was rejected; no clear consequences”, “the results in the submitted publication were changed; the whistleblower was very disappointed that there were no sanctions for the [project leader]” | 36 | 27 |