[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 239 (Wednesday, December 12, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 64266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-30627]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary


Findings of Scientific Misconduct

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity 
(ORI) and the Assistant Secretary for Health have taken final action in 
the following case:
    Karen M. Ruggiero, Ph.D., Harvard University: On November 26, 2001, 
the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) entered into a Voluntary Exclusion 
Agreement with Harvard University and Karen M. Ruggiero, Ph.D., former 
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology at Harvard University. 
Based on the report of an inquiry conducted by Harvard University 
(Harvard Report), and related actions and findings by Harvard based on 
the Harvard Report, as well as additional analysis conducted by ORI in 
its oversight review, PHS found that Dr. Ruggiero engaged in scientific 
misconduct by fabricating data in research supported by the National 
Institutes of Health (NIH).
    Specifically, PHS and Harvard University found that:
    (1) Dr. Ruggiero fabricated three experiments, including data 
reported as having been obtained from a total of 240 participants, 
published in the following paper: Ruggiero, K.M. & Marx, D.M. ``Less 
pain and more to gain: Why high-status group members blame their 
failure on discrimination.'' Journal of Personality and Social 
Psychology, 77(4):774-784, 1999 (the ``JPSP paper''). These experiments 
were also proposed in the ``Research Plan'' of an application submitted 
to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), NIH, by Dr. Ruggiero 
in September 1997 for grant 1 R03 MH58586-01, which was acknowledged as 
a source of support in the JPSP paper. Dr. Ruggiero admits that she 
fabricated the data on the 240 participants in the JPSP paper. At her 
request, a notice of retraction of this paper appeared in the Journal 
of Personality and Social Psychology 81(2):178, 2001.
    (2) Dr. Ruggiero fabricated two experiments, including data 
reported as having been obtained from a total of 360 participants, 
published in the following paper: Ruggiero, K.M., Steele, J., Hwang, 
A., & Marx, D.M. ``Why did I get a ``D'? The effects of social 
comparisons on women's attributions to discrimination.'' Personality 
and Social Psychology Bulletin 26(10):1271-1283, 2000 (the ``PSPB 
paper''). These experiments were also proposed in the ``Research Plan'' 
of the application submitted by Dr. Ruggiero in September 1997 for 
grant 1 R03 MH58586-01, which was acknowledged as a source of support 
in the PSPB paper. Dr. Ruggiero admits that she fabricated the data on 
the 360 participants in the PSPB paper. At her request, a notice of 
retraction of this paper appeared in the Personality and Social 
Psychology Bulletin 27(9):1237, 2001.
    (3) Dr. Ruggiero's admittedly fabricated research from the JPSP and 
PSPB papers was cited in and served as the basis for an NIH Individual 
National Service Award application, F32 MH12868-01 and -01A1, formerly 
F32 HD41874, ``Status effects in perceptions of preferential 
treatment,'' submitted in August 2000 by one of Dr. Ruggiero's post-
doctoral fellows, with Dr. Ruggiero listed as the sponsor.
    (4) In connection with a Harvard School of Public Health grant 
application to NIH, 1 R01 HL065220-01, ``Measuring racial 
discrimination for health research,'' Dr. Ruggiero submitted a 
subcontract in September 2000 citing the admittedly fabricated research 
from the JPSP and PSPB papers in support of her qualifications to serve 
as a subcontractor.
    (5) In July 1999 and July 2000, Dr. Ruggiero cited and included as 
``Preliminary Studies'' her admittedly fabricated, PHS-supported 
research from the JPSP and PSPB papers in applications, ``The ironic 
status effect,'' that she submitted to the National Science Foundation.
    The Voluntary Exclusion Agreement (Agreement) states that:
    (1) Dr. Ruggiero agreed to exclude herself from any contracting or 
subcontracting with any agency of the United States Government and from 
eligibility for, or involvement in, nonprocurement transactions (e.g., 
grants and cooperative agreements) of the United States Government as 
defined in 45 CFR part 76(Debarment Regulations) for a period of five 
(5) years, beginning on November 26, 2001.
    (2) Dr. Ruggiero agreed to exclude herself from serving in any 
advisory capacity to PHS, including but not limited to service on any 
PHS advisory committee, board, and/or peer review committee, or as a 
consultant for a period of five (5) years, beginning on November 26, 
2001.
    (3) Dr. Ruggiero agreed to submit a letter, with a copy to ORI and 
Harvard, to the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin requesting 
retraction of the following paper: Ruggiero, K.M. & Major, B.N. ``Group 
status and attributions to discrimination: Are low- or high-status 
group members more likely to blame their failure on discrimination?'' 
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 24:821-838, 1998. Dr. 
Ruggiero further agreed that the letter submitted pursuant to this 
paragraph will state that the retraction is warranted ``because serious 
questions exist concerning the validity of the data which relate solely 
to my own work and which do not implicate my coauthor in any way.'' ORI 
received a copy of her letter to the editor, dated November 5, 2001.
    (4) Dr. Ruggiero agreed to submit a letter, with a copy to ORI and 
Harvard, to Psychological Science requesting a retraction of the 
following paper: Ruggiero, K.M., Mitchell, J.P., Krieger, N., Marx, 
D.M., & Lorenzo, M.L. ``Now you see it, now you don't: Explicit versus 
implicit measures of the personal/group discrimination discrepancy.'' 
Psychological Science 22:57-67, 2000. Dr. Ruggiero further agreed that 
the letter submitted pursuant to this paragraph will state that the 
retraction is warranted ``because I improperly excluded some 
participants who should have been included in the analyses and that 
this exclusion affected the reported results. Moreover, the improper 
exclusion of data was solely my doing and was not contributed to or 
known by my coauthors.'' ORI received a copy of her letter to the 
editor, dated October 18, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Division of Investigative 
Oversight, Office of Research Integrity, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 700, 
Rockville, MD 20852, (301) 443-5330.

Chris B. Pascal,
Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 01-30627 Filed 12-11-01; 8:45 am]
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