I am deeply concerned regarding the apparent lack of an institutional response following the resignation of our former president in August 2023 amid allegations of scientific misconduct. One of the most critical responsibilities of any university administration is to monitor and ensure that research is conducted at the highest level of integrity and reliability.  Without ensuring excellence in research conduct, Stanford’s administration risks destroying the University’s reputation and therefore the positive impact it should have on people and our culture. As a long-time member of the Stanford community, I believe this incident underscores an urgent need for the University’s leadership to publicly commit to the highest standards of academic and scientific integrity by implementing practical measures to ensure that they are met. 

Stanford has long been a leader in academic excellence, and our community takes pride in its innovation and its contributions to advancing knowledge. However, recent events have shaken confidence in our ethical standards and raised questions about our commitment to integrity. University leadership is at risk of missing the opportunity this experience presents to reaffirm our values and demonstrate a commitment to preventing similar issues in the future. Stanford has the potential to lead the global academic community in this regard. Universities have been slow at taking proactive measures to promote academic and scientific integrity and therefore have suffered a severe erosion in public trust and confidence. I believe the scientific community broadly would benefit from the example set by Stanford. 

I urge University leadership to take the following actions: 

Implement Transparent Communication: Regularly update the Stanford community on efforts to address issues of research misconduct and the steps taken to safeguard our institutional integrity. Transparency is essential to rebuilding trust. 

Expand Educational Efforts: Introduce or enhance mandatory training programs on research ethics, reproducibility and the best practices for sound research inquiry. These programs should be designed for all researchers, with special emphasis on supporting young scientists navigating the pressures of academia. Awareness and education are the first steps toward establishing ethical behavior.  

Support Ethical Mentorship: Establish clear standards and oversight for mentor-mentee relationships to ensure they promote ethical conduct and academic excellence. Senior faculty must model and enforce ethical behavior. Faculty found to have engaged in scientific misconduct should be appropriately punished. 

Conduct Internal Screening: Strengthen the role of programs such as the MetaResearch Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS) and implement systematic, centralized practices to help the faculty address issues of data integrity. For example, establish core facilities to evaluate the statistical methods used in a study and screen image data for evidence of inappropriate manipulation before their submission to a journal. Mere suggestions that faculty do this on their own are insufficient. 

Make a Public Commitment: Issue a statement of commitment to the leadership of ethical practices outlining the steps the University will take in this regard. Such a commitment would position Stanford as a model for academic integrity and accountability. 

Stanford has an opportunity to emerge stronger from this challenging time by addressing concerns about academic and scientific integrity head-on. Not doing so risks burdening the University with additional cases of misconduct and their associated costs in time, money and our reputation for excellence. By taking bold and transparent action, we can restore confidence in our institution and set a standard for integrity that will inspire others in the scientific and academic communities. 

George F. Tidmarsh ’82 Ph.D. ’87 M.D. ’89 is an adjunct professor of pediatrics and neonatology at the School of Medicine.