washington

An investigation by George Brown (Democrat, California), the senior minority member on the House of Representatives Science Committee, into an allegation of scientific plagiarism at Cornell University, New York State, may be widened to look more broadly at cases in which the ideas of junior scientists are allegedly stolen by senior colleagues.

Brown's staff are investigating a case at Cornell in which Antonia Demas, a graduate student, alleges that David Levitsky, a professor of nutrition at the university, failed to give her due credit for research into techniques for improving children's diets. Levitsky vigorously denies the charge.

The staff are also gathering information about other cases, including one at the University of Michigan which last year resulted in the award of $1.1 million in damages by a jury to Carolyn Phinney, a statistician who had worked in a psychology laboratory, after she claimed that ideas were stolen by her supervising professor.

“It is premature to come to conclusions regarding the Demas case,” Brown says. “But the allegations highlight the general problem of young scholars having their best ideas stolen by senior researchers.”

Cornell says it has already investigated the case thoroughly. “This set of issues has been repeatedly reviewed by many different entities,” says Henrik Dullea, vice-president for university relations. “The charges were found to be unsupported,” he adds, describing it as “ludicrous” to suggest that a university such as Cornell cannot investigate such allegations independently.

“If it is being suggested that I plagiarized or attempted to steal anything, that is totally untrue,” says Levitsky. The inspector general at the US Department of Agriculture, which supported the research in question, also investigated the case and took no action.

But Brown believes the affair raises general issues that deserve attention. According to a member of his staff, Brown has no desire to follow in the footsteps of John Dingell (Democrat, Michigan), who fought a wide-ranging battle against what he saw as various forms of scientific misconduct for years. Instead, he will focus on junior researchers — especially women — who may be exploited by senior colleagues.

“There are many reports of such behaviour, but we cannot know how many incidents go unreported due to intimidation or fear,” said Brown in a statement. “We cannot allow young scholars to be victimized. Raising questions about cases of alleged misconduct can be good for the integrity of the overall system by providing hope to victims, and giving pause to those who would be predators.”