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KMID : 1172020080090010001
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Journal of Korean Bioethics Association
2008 Volume.9 No. 1 p.1 ~ p.17
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The Protection of Whistleblowers and the Responsibility of Research Institutions
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Kim Hwan-Suk
Kim Myong-Jin
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Abstract
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The content of scientific experiments can hardly be understood by non-experts, and research laboratories are the spaces to which lay people cannot get access. Therefore, whistleblowing misconducts from research process tends to be done by such ’insiders’ as colleague researchers. This implies that it is vitally important to protect whistleblowers in oder to keep research integrity in scientific communities. But whistleblowers are susceptible to disadvantages and retaliation from their research institutions or the accused. Since Korea has undemocratic and self-defending organizational culture, it is usual with whistleblowers to suffer from ostracism (as ’informer’ or ’betrayer’) and fatal retaliation. The whistleblower of the Hwang Woo-Suk’s misconduct was expelled from his job and had to escape from retaliation from Hwang’s supporters for a long time. The Prevention of Corruption Law(2001) and the Guideline for Research Ethics(2007) are the two institutional arrangements which contain codes for the protection of whistleblowers in Korea. However, both of them are not effective to protect whistleblowers of research misconduct. What we need are not only reinforcement of legal and institutional arrangements but also change of thought on whistleblowers by their research institutions. To prevent research misconduct and promote sound research ethics, we need to change our thought on whistleblowers as from ’a betrayer of organization’ to ’a brave person who raises healthiness of organization’.
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KEYWORD
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research misconduct, whistleblower, Hwang Woo-Suk, research ethics
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