The societal costs of research misconduct: Some method considerations from the DEFORM Project

While research misconduct (RM) and non-responsible innovation (NRI) engage distinct considerations of integrity and responsibility, we can link them with a broad vision of values for science in society. We present a novel econometric approach, developed in the European DEFORM Project, for estimation of the incidence and direct social costs of research misconduct by analysing RM as occupational fraud. This is applied to publicly funded research in Europe, to obtain empirical estimates of the order of magnitude of financial losses to research investors due to projects tainted by RM. Turning to the societal context, notably the incitation to fraud afforded by commercial and institutional performance pressures, we discuss the example of direct and indirect social costs of RM in the 'Dieselgate' scandal. We thus situate social costs of RM as one facet of quality assurance and governance of research activity and of the uses of science in society. © 2020 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.. All rights reserved.