Director urges better protection of research integrity

Researchers need to be warier of external influences on academic research, the Young Academy of Norway has heard.

Tanja Storsul, director of the Institute for Social Research in Oslo, said during a debate at the academy that care must be taken to ensure that the integrity of research was not threatened by interference from non-academic partners such as companies and government agencies.

She also urged researchers to consider whether such influence created self-censorship, where researchers refuse to discuss certain aspects, and how external clients might want to control research results.