Contextualizing the emerging and contested role of sleuths in the science monitoring system

Abstract In light of persistent challenges to the quality and integrity of the research record, new monitoring practices of research are emerging in the form of scientific sleuthing. While quickly developing into a sizeable community of actors that is prominently engaging in scientific quality control, the role of scientific sleuths is both contested and poorly conceptualized. This perspective addresses this by positioning sleuths in the context of institutionalized actors involved in the research monitoring process, including peer reviewers, research integrity officers and science journalists. It argues that while sleuths share characteristics with each of these roles, they nevertheless form a distinct class of actors, most importantly because of the absence of formal accountability structures. This has triggered comparisons of scientific sleuthing to vigilantism. We provide a conceptual framework to describe sleuthing practices, allowing further exploration of sleuths’ ability to uphold the research literature’s quality and integrity.