Message from the Director

Steven Goodman

The criterion of “Rigor and Reproducibility” is increasingly used by major funding agencies and scientific journals. In the groundbreaking National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine 2017 report, “Fostering Integrity in Research,” (1) the concept of “integrity” was expanded to encompass far more than avoiding traditional forms of misconduct (falsification, fabrication, and plagiarism) to virtually all practices that diminish scientific quality or interfere with our ability to assess it. This broader conception sets a precedent that motivates the goals and activities of SPORR.

SPORR aims to be a collaborative and interactive effort amongst Stanford faculty, students and staff, which is only successful with your involvement. We will keep you apprised of the latest requirements and expectations from funders, journals, private sector partners, and others. More importantly, we will provide resources and teach and support the practices that fulfill them.

The hallmark of a truly great research university – or any human endeavor – is not measured just by its highest quality work, but of all the research done under its auspices.

We hope to create a research environment where it is easy and rewarding to do things right. Most importantly, we want to help Stanford research community to attain their goals of producing the most informative science possible in every research project they undertake.

Our goal at SPORR is to assure that any research done with the Stanford imprimatur satisfies criteria that the scientific community deems absolutely critical to have confidence in its output.

Citation:

  1. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Policy and Global Affairs; Committee on Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Public Policy; Committee on Responsible Science. Fostering Integrity in Research. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2017 Apr 11. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK475953/ doi: 10.17226/21896