Demarcating misconduct from misinterpretations and mistakes

Within recent years, scientific misconduct has become an increasingly important topic, not only in the scientific community, but in the general public as well. Spectacular cases have been extensively covered in the news media, such as the cases of the Korean stem cell researcher Hwang, the German nanoscientist Schön, or the Norwegian cancer researcher Sudbø. In Science's latest annual "breakthrough of the year" report from December 2006, the descriptions of the year's hottest breakthroughs were accompanied by a similar description of "the breakdown of the year: scientific fraud". Official guidelines for dealing with scientific misconduct were introduced in the 1990s. At this time, research agencies, universities and other research institutions around the world developed guidelines for good scientific practice and formed committees to handle cases of scientific misconduct. In this process it was widely debated how to define scientific misconduct. Most definitions centered on falsification, fabrication, and plagiarism (the so-called FFP definition), but suggestions were also made for definitions that were broader and more open-ended, such as the 1995 suggestion from the US Commission of Research Integrity to replace FFP with misappropriation, interference and misrepresentation (the so-called MIM definition). The MIM definition was not adopted in the US, but MIM-like definitions have been adopted in several other countries. In this paper, I shall describe these MIM-related definitions of scientific misconduct and analyze the arguments that have been advanced in their favor. I shall discuss some of the difficulties inherent in the MIM-related definitions, such as the distinction between misrepresentation and mistake, and the demarcation of misrepresentation in areas characterized by uncertainty or by diverging research paradigms. I shall illustrate the problems inherent in the MIM-definition through a particular case: the ruling of the Danish Committee on Scientific Dishonesty (DCSD) about Bjørn Lomborg's best-selling book The Skeptical Environmentalist in which he argued that contrary to what was claimed in the “litany” of the environmentalists, the state of the environment is getting better rather than worse. Lomborg was reported to the DCSD by several environmental scientists, and this controversial case from 2003 ended with a verdict that characterized Lomborg’s conclusions as misrepresentations, but acquitted Lomborg of misconduct due to his ignorance. I shall analyze this verdict and the problems it reveals with respect to the MIM-related definitions of misconduct

Discussion documents – SUSVAR Visions Workshop, Karrebæksminde, Denmark, April 2008

Seven discussion documents were made during the SUSVAR Visions workshop ‘Sustainable cereal production beyond 2020: Visions from the SUSVAR1 network’, Karrebæksminde, Denmark, 14-16 April 2008. At the workshop, one discussion documents was written for each of the topics mentioned below. In total 55 persons from 21 European countries participated in the process. The participants came from different disciplines: genetics, plant breeding, genetic resources, agronomy, plant pathology, soil science, biometry and system analysis, all specialised in the area of cereal production. The approach taken at the workshop was to focus on envisioning the future of sustainable agriculture, especially cereal production. This was done by scientific creative thinking on the basis of possibilities in breeding, management and seed production and not on the basis of traditional problem solving. We followed a strategy commonly used in industrial management based on the premise “imagining the future is shaping the future”. The method “appreciative inquiry” was applied supported by a professional facilitator. Experience shows that this way of working sparks engagement and creativity and that progress and results can be reached within a short time. Focus was on the following topics of relevance to cereal production: - Competition between food and bioenergy, - Soil fertility management, - Economical and legal conditions for variety improvement, - Participation of stakeholders, - Plant breeding strategies, - Food and feed processing improvements, - Sustainable land use. The initial process was to visualise the most desirable future scenario for the seven essential topics in food and agriculture systems. This process was unhindered by no requirement for a market-driven goal. Each topic was discussed in relation to a broader socio-ecological system with a focus on the means to reach the desired and more sustainable outcomes. The next step at the workshop was to produce the discussion documents. The final stage of the process is to connect the topics in a completed vision of cereal production within a future sustainable socio-ecological system. This is in progress by a group of key persons within the network, e.g. the working group leaders (in preparation for publication in a scientific journal)

Chasing Efficiency Can operational changes fix European asylum systems? Bertelsmann Stiftung Migration Policy Institute Europe March 2020

The heightened arrivals of asylum seekers and migrants on European shores in 2015–16 sent policymakers across the continent scrambling for new strategies to manage migration. Proposals to reform the European Union’s legal framework for asylum were the first out of the starting blocks but, several years later, no such agreement has been reached. And with new EU leadership having taken office in late 2019, Brussels is hungry for fresh ideas that will either revive or reform the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). Crucial to this search will be a recognition that, while deficiencies still plague Europe’s asylum systems, these systems have changed significantly since the onset of the migration and refugee crisis—even in the absence of legal reforms

Characteristics of spring barley varieties for organic farming

Modern spring barley varieties have been developed with the aim of combining high productivity and standardised product quality under high-input conditions using pesticides for control of weeds, diseases and insects as well as heavy application of nutrient-rich and water-soluble inorganic fertilizers. In the organic growing system, biotic and abiotic stresses have to be overcome by growing the appropriate varieties and by practicing good farm management. The important spring barley traits to be considered in organic farming are related to the inherited viability and adaptation of plants to survive biotic and abiotic stresses and includes competitive ability (morphology, weed tolerance, growth rate, allelopathy), disease resistance (morphology, specific and non-specific resistance proporties, disease tolerance) and nutrient acquisition ability (root morphology, nutrient uptake and use efficiencies, low-nutrient tolerance, symbioses). An important question is whether modern spring barley varieties possess the right combinations of these characteristics to ensure a stable and acceptable yield of good quality when grown under different organic growing conditions. We know that varieties often perform and yield differently in different environments due to genotype-environment interactions, so it may be important to evaluate characteristics of varieties in organic as well as in conventional farming systems. However, it remains unclear to date whether the differences between the conventional and the organic growing systems are large enough to justify breeding and testing of varieties in both environments. Extensive field experiments and refined statistical methods are needed to clarify this. Characterisation of varieties as part of the official variety testing is at present done under conventional farming conditions in Denmark. The aim of a newly started inter-institutional Danish research project within The Danish Research Center for Organic Farming (DARCOF) with project participants from The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Risø National Laboratory is to Identify combinations of plant characteristics required for a barley crop to be successful in organic growing systems and develop methodologies for measuring these characteristics. Evaluate, by investigating genotype-environment interactions, the need for specific variety trials for organic farming, and if necessary implement such trials. Improve yield and yield stability in different organic farming systems by strategic use of the appropriate varieties and variety mixtures. Investigate the potential of different variety mixtures for reducing diseases and weeds and increasing nutrient uptake efficiency. Obtain new knowledge on plant competition, disease complexes, epidemiological models, nutrient acquisition and associations between molecular markers and agronomical traits. The results of the first-year trials on three organic workshop areas and in two conventional fields with about 120 mostly modern varieties and a few variety mixtures will be discussed. The preliminary analyses indicate large variation in yield between the different varieties

Sustainable production systems for organic apple production

Organic apples are often sold for fresh consumption and therefore have to obtain high quality requirements. The fruits must obtain the right size and be undamaged without important infections of pest and diseases. Apple scab causes brown or black spots on the fruits and severe infections can result in fruits not suitable for consumption. This disease causes big reduction in yield and quality in organic production. Copper is an effective fungicide to control diseases and is used in organic apple production in some European countries. Copper has not been permitted in Denmark the last 10 years and the European Union wants to reject it from the list of pesticides permitted in organic production. To improve the quality and yield in organic apple production, it is important to find the best culture techniques. Combinations of cultivars, nitrogen availability, rootstocks and planting distances are tried to prevent or reduce apple scab infections

From grain to feed – process development concerning production of high protein fractions from grain and legum products to be used in extruded fish feed pellets

The Danish project “Organic Aquaculture” the link between sustainable production and superior products” is examining the availability of relevant organically produced crops with a high protein content to be used as raw materials for fish feed. Fish meal is the main source of protein for fish feed. On a global scale the production of fish meal will not increase. There is a demand for developing sustainable protein sources as a substitution for fish meal. Protein from crops and legumes is an obvious solution, however, the crops and legumes need to be processed into fractions with a higher protein content in order to compete with fish meal. The process development was carried out at The Danish Technological Institute’s pilot plant located in Sdr. Stenderup, Denmark. Sweet lupine seeds were processed among other grains and legumes. A dehulling process was developed based on three process steps: knife mill grinding, vibration sifting and zig zag air classifying. The protein content was concentrated from 34 % to 43 % protein on dry matter and fat free basis. 90,5 % of the hull was removed. The dehulled lupines were grinded so that 84 % of the fraction was below 250 µm. The grinding was carried out using a hammer mill with a 2.0 mm and a 1.0 mm sieve at 2950 rpm and finally using an Alpine 160 Z pine mill at 18.900 rpm. The grinded product was air classified by using a MP 400 Alpine Air Classifier. A protein fraction of 62 % protein on dry matter and fat free basis was reached. The relation between the particle size of the protein product and the protein content in the fraction was investigated. A linear relation was found and demonstrated; when the protein content in the product was increased the amount of particles in the fraction below 70 µm also increased linearly. The lupine protein was incorporated into a recipe for fish feed and extruded into pellets on a Werner Pfleider Continua 37 Twin Screwed Extruder