MADELEINE BRAND, host: This is DAY TO DAY from NPR News.  I'm Madeleine Brand.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: Investigations are getting under way this week into apparent fraud in      groundbreaking stem cell research.  Superstar South Korean researcher      Hwang Woo-suk is accused by collaborators of faking a lot of his data, so      now labs in both Seoul and Pittsburgh must conduct probes into the      disputed claims. Well, the Explainer team at the online magazine Slate      wondered:  How do you investigate scientific misconduct?  Here is Slate's      Andy Bowers.</s>ANDY BOWERS (Slate): First, interview everyone who might be involved.      In the United States, research institutions conduct their own inquiries      into scientific wrongdoing.  The probe can start with a small committee      quietly interviewing witnesses.  But a full-on investigation, like the      one planned by the University of Pittsburgh into its role in the Korean      research, may include a larger committee made up of people from outside      the institution, like scientists from other schools and lawyers.  The      committee might seize notebooks, equipment and computer files and hold      them under lock and key until the investigation is over.  Dr. Hwang's      computer in Korea has already been seized.</s>ANDY BOWERS (Slate): In some cases, investigators might want to search a scientist's home for      incriminating evidence.  Forensic scientists might be called in to detect      evidence tampering.  Analysis of the ink in a lab notebook, for example,      might turn up back-dated entries or other mischief.  The head of a lab      can also secretly replace some key fluid in an experiment with water.  If      a researcher under suspicion still reports positive results, he's been      stung.</s>ANDY BOWERS (Slate): When a federal grant is involved--which is not the case with the Korean      stem cell research--the government can prohibit a scientist from      receiving any federal money for a specified period of time, usually three      years.  Of course, a guilty professor can also be fired.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: Andy Bowers is a Slate senior editor, and that Explainer was      compiled by Daniel Engber.
Slate senior editor Andy Bowers explains how research institutions investigate claims of fraud in their research labs. A South Korean researcher recently admitted to fabricating data on breakthrough cloning procedures.