The unethical practices of grant writing and grant peer review

Abstract

A large part of governmental research funding is currently distributed through peer review of project proposals. In this paper, we argue that such funding systems incentivize and even force researchers to violate five moral values, each of which is central to commonly used scientific codes of conduct. Our argument complements existing epistemic arguments against peer-review project funding systems and, accordingly, adds ammunition to the mounting calls for reform of these systems.