Navigatingthewatersaround“wickedproblems”:Perspectivesonmisconductfrom

COPE

CharonPiersonClinicianandacademicfor40years

Nursepractitioneringeriatricsfor30years

PhDinmedicalsociology

Journaleditorfor20+years

MemberofCOPEsince2009

ElectedtoCOPECouncil2012

ElectedsecretaryofCOPETrusteeBoard2015

Investigated2casesofmisconductthatresultedinretractions

RequestedamisconductinvestigationagainstanauthorviaUniversityandORI

IndependentcontractortoAANPtoeditourjournalpublishedbyWiley

Noothercompetingintereststodeclare

COPEaims

AboutCOPEBeganinLondonin1997assmall,informalgroupofjournaleditorstodiscussissuesrelatedtopublicationethicsRegisteredCharityandCorporationunderUKlaw

Todaywehavemorethan10,000membersfrom103countriesfromAlgeriatoZimbabweMembershipisinternationalinscopeandfullyinclusiveinsubjectmatter

COPECouncilstrategydayretreatJune16,2016

18Councilmembers3staff

COPEaims

COPEAims

ProvidepracticalresourcestoeducateandsupportourmembersProvideleadershipinthinkingonpublicationethicsProvideaneutral,professionalvoice

“Researchisiterativeandnecessitatesaclean“pool”ofknowledge.“Whatdidwelearnyesterday?HowdoesCOPEthinkabouttheseproblems?

Whatdoesawickedproblemlooklike?

KnownasWickedProblem(HorstRittle)

IllstructuredProblem(IanMitroff)

SocialMess(RobertHorn)

Toseethismapinfulldetailgoto<www.macrovu.com/GMUnknownterritory.html>

HorstRittle’s original10characteristics

1.Thereisnodefiniteformulationofawickedproblem.2.Wickedproblemshavenostoppingrules.3.Solutionstowickedproblemsarenottrue-or-false,butbetterorworse.4.Thereisnoimmediateandnoultimatetestofasolutiontoawickedproblem.5.Everysolutiontoawickedproblemisa"one-shotoperation";becausethereisnoopportunitytolearnbytrial-and-error,everyattemptcountssignificantly.

6.Wickedproblemsdonothaveanenumerable(oranexhaustivelydescribable)setofpotentialsolutions,noristhereawell-describedsetofpermissibleoperationsthatmaybeincorporatedintotheplan.7.Everywickedproblemisessentiallyunique.8.Everywickedproblemcanbeconsideredtobeasymptomofanother[wicked]problem.9.Thecausesofawickedproblemcanbeexplainedinnumerousways.Thechoiceofexplanationdeterminesthenatureoftheproblem'sresolution.10.[Withwickedproblems,]theplannerhasnorighttobewrong.

Rittel &Webber,1973,Dilemmasinageneraltheoryofplanning,PolicySciencesMagazine.

Whatisa“wickedproblem”?ComplexDifficulttodefineNoeasysolutionCandidatesolutionscreateevenmoreproblemsMultiplestakeholdersinvolvedMultiplecompetinginterestsNoclearindicationasolutionhasbeenreachedaftermuchdiscussion

Howcomplexistheproblem?

• Newmodelsofpublishingandaccessinginformation• Increasingnumberofjournalsinwhichtopublish• Increasingstrainonpeerreviewerstoreviewthescience• Increasinglycomplexanalytictechniquesbeingused• Incentivizedtopublishmorearticleswithoutregardtoquality• Academicsincentivizedtopublishinhighimpactjournals• Institutionalreputationtiedtopublishingvolumeandmetrics• Institutionalsilos

Howistheproblemdefined?

• Non-reproducibilityofscience• Pushtodo“safe”research• Pushtopublishquicklybeforeeverythingisproperlyvetted• Unintentionalerrorsnotcaughtinpeerreview• Intentionalerrorsdifficulttocatch• Scientificintegrityisatstake• Averagepersondoesnottrustscience• Researchersdonottrustjournalarticlesandwanttoseedata

• Journaleditorsdonothaveresourcestoconductinvestigations

Whatsolutionshavebeentriedandfailed?

• Namingandshaming• Criminalprosecution• Sanctionsonfuturegrantapplications• ComplaintstoCOPEtoadjudicatethescienceratherthantheprocess• Institutionalinvestigationsinsomecases• WebsitesforcommentarylikePubMedCommons andPubPeer• Bloggersnotedforcriticalcommentary• Whistleblowers

Whatnewproblemshavebeencreated?

• Requiringsubmissionofdatawithamanuscript• Journalshavetochangeprocesses• Datahavetobesecuredandmanaged

• Reputationalriskforinnocentparties• Juniorscientiststakingthe“fall”forproblems• Sophisticatedtechnologiestofakeallkindsofthings

• Peerreview• Figures,data• Work-aroundstothwartplagiarismdetectionsoftware

• Programsthatgenerategibberishpapers• Companiessupplyingnewarticlescompletewithdataformoney

Whoarethemultiplestakeholders?

• Funders• Publishers• Journaleditors• Academicinstitutions• ResearchIntegrityOffices• Legalsystem• Lawyersspecializeinrepresentingwhistleblowersorthosebeinginvestigated

• Politicalsystems• Thepublicwhouseandrelyonscience

Whatarethemultiplecompetinginterests?

• Authorsbeingpaidtopublishinhigh-impactjournals• Publicationinreputablejournalsisthe“coinoftherealm”inacademiaandresearchinstitutions• Highlycitablearticlesboostjournal/publisherreputation• Being“first”topublishbreakthroughresearch• Authorship– whoisanauthorandwhoisnamedanauthor?• Dataownership- whoownsthedata?• Computerhacking,systemmanipulation• Openaccessvspaidaccess

Howwillweknowwhenwehaveasolution?

• Accommodationforalternativeoptions• Bettercommunicationamongstakeholders• Dialoguemapping,knowledgemapping

• Improvedcollaborationamongthoseequippedtohandletheproblem• Everyone“owns”theproblem• Flexibility– i.e.,changeswithchangingenvironments• Ongoingcommitment– problemisnotnecessarilysolvedbuteveryone“remainsinthemess”(Horn)

KnowledgeMap– frommapitknowit.wordpress.com

DialogueMap– fromCogNexus Institute

Lookingtowardthefuture

• Generateavisualmaporrepresentationofthesolutionspace• Generateasharedunderstandingoftheproblemspace• Increasedownershipoftheproblemamongstakeholders• Attentiontoimprovingcommunicationabouttheproblem• Increaseawarenessofinfrastructuretosolveproblems• Increasedattentiontoperverseincentivesthatfueltheproblem• Moresharingofeducationaloptionstoearlycareerresearchers• Morepeopleworkingtoincreasetransparencyinconductingandpublishingresearch

Whatdoweneedtoconsiderinsolutions?

• Don’tgeneratenewproblemswithsolutions• Getbuy-infromkeystakeholders• Embraceeffortsinclusiveofcurrentandfuturepossibilities• Promoteeducationofallinvolved• Collaboratewithmultiplegroups• Goalsneedtoembraceconceptofchangingtheclimateintheconductofresearchandpublication

Criterion10:“Plannersareliablefortheconsequencesoftheactionstheygenerate.”H.Rittel

ViaTwitterfrom@boomerang

References

• ConklinJ.(2005).DialogueMapping.JohnWileyPublishing:Chichester,England• Horn,R.(2001).KnowledgeMappingforComplexSocialMesses.Apresentationtothe“FoundationsintheKnowledgeEconomy”attheDavidandLucilePackardFoundation.• Mapit– Knowithttps://mapitknowit.wordpress.com/• RitcheyT.(2013).WickedProblems:Modellingsocialmeses withmorphologicalanalysis.Acta Morphologica Generalis,2(1);1-8.• Rittel,H.,andWebber,M.(1973).“DilemmasinaGeneralTheoryofPlanning”.PolicySciences,Vol.4,pp155-169.ElsevierPublishing:Amsterdam.