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NATURE|Vol 438|10 November 2005 NEWS

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These fears are backed up by a survey ofmisconduct rates among 3,000 researchersfunded by the US National Institutes ofHealth. Published earlier this year, it foundthat a third of respondents had engaged in oneof ten types of misconduct in the past threeyears (see Nature 435, 718–719; 2005, and B. C. Martinson et al. Nature 435, 737–738;2005). Further analysis of the survey data, tobe published next March in the Journal ofEmpirical Research on Human Research Ethics,shows that misconduct rates were highestamong researchers who felt that they had been unfairly treated by other governing bodies in science, such as funding review panels. A similar relationship is likely to existbetween misconduct and the perception ofunfair treatment by IRBs, says Brian Martin-son of the HealthPartners Research Founda-tion in Minneapolis, Minnesota, lead authoron the two studies.

Keith-Spiegel has also studied the issue byasking scientists’ opinions on fictional sit-uations in which an IRB refused researcherspermission for a study. In cases where the IRBresponded in a curt manner, rather thanexplaining its decision, subjects empathizedwith the rejected researcher and assigned a lesssignificant punishment if that researcher wentahead and ran the study anyway. The resultsare still being analysed, but Keith-Spiegel saysthey seem to suggest that researchers are moreopen to committing misconduct if they feelwronged by an IRB.

Keith-Spiegel and Martinson say that theirfindings can be explained by organizationaljustice theory, a well-established method forstudying workplace relationships. Studies inwork environments other than science haveshown that employees are more likely to com-mit misconduct if they feel their managers arenot giving them due reward or are treatingthem unfairly. In a paper due to appear in nextmonth’s Ethics and Behavior, Keith-Spiegelargues that the same relationship can existbetween IRBs and scientists.

Ethics committee chairs who spoke toNature say they try to avoid such problems bymaintaining a good relationship with scien-tists. “I’ve certainly heard of problems,” saysLeigh Firn, chairman of an IRB at the Massa-chusetts Institute of Technology. “But we don’t see ourselves as the ethics police. Unless it issomething of substance we won’t requestchanges.” Brian Shine, a consultant at OxfordRadcliffe Hospitals Trust, UK, and chairmanof a local ethics committee, adds that he invitesresearchers to meetings to discuss potentialproblems and always writes to them after-wards to clarify the discussion. ■

Jim Giles

A machinists’ strike is hitting some USspace projects hard. It has already delayedthe launch of three atmospheric satellitesand it could derail a major Pluto mission if it is left unresolved.

About 1,500 Boeing machinists andengineers walked off the job at facilitiesacross the United States on 2 November,after talks between the union and thecompany on health care broke down. Themachinists are responsible for the assemblyand launch preparation of the company’sDelta rockets, commonly used in scientificmissions for NASA.

The strike stopped the countdown of theNational Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration’s hurricane-trackingsatellite GOES-N, scheduled to launch on 5 November, leaving it stranded atop itsDelta IV rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida.Boeing officials are now assessing whether itwill be possible to restart the countdownusing non-union employees, says RobertVillanueva, a spokesman for the company.

And delayed indefinitely are NASA’sCloudSat and CALIPSO satellites, whichwill study the global distribution of aerosols(see Nature 437, 468–469; 2005). They wereset to launch on a single Delta II rocket inNovember, but those plans are now on hold.David Winker, principal investigator forCALIPSO, says that the delay is especiallyworrying because the satellites are meant totake part in international projects in whichmany teams collect climate data at the sametime. “These things are going to go aheadwhether we launch or not,” he says. “It’sclose to being critical.”

If the strike becomes protracted, it mayeven affect a mission to Pluto. New Horizonswould be the first spacecraft to visit the SolarSystem’s most distant planet, and the finalstage of the vehicle is propelled by a Boeingengine. If the mission misses its month-longlaunch window early next year, its nextchance will not be until February 2007. ButVillanueva says it should be possible tocomplete the necessary work usingreplacement technicians and inspectors.

He adds that there is no schedule forresolving the strike: “Basically both sides aresitting back and leaving lines ofcommunication open.” ■

Geoff Brumfiel

Boeing strike leavessatellites stranded on launch pad

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