“For Its Size, the Most Complex Natural Product Known.” Who Deserves Credit for Determining the Structure of Strychnine?

• Published in: ACS central science Vol. 8; no. 6; pp. 672 - 681
• Main Authors: Seeman, Jeffrey I., House, Mark C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 22.06.2022
• Subjects: In Focus
• ISSN: 2374-7943; 2374-7951
• DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.1c01348

Scientists expect to receive appropriate credit for their achievements. Credit for the determination of the structure of strychnine, the most complex natural product for its size, has been given to both Sir Robert Robinson and R. B. Woodward for their independent discoveries in the late 1940s. In this paper, the following question is explored: Who should be given credit for a discovery of a scientific phenomenon: the individual who first published the correct solution but subsequently published another (wrong) explanation and later reverted to the correct structure or several analogues (Robinson)? Or the individual who was second to publish the correct solution (along with additional supporting data) and did not reverse him/herself (Woodward)? A survey of chemists, mathematicians, life scientists, and social scientists at Ph.D.-granting universities in the U.S. was conducted in which credit allocation and “being first but later recanting versus being second and steadfast” were probed. In addition, ombudspersons, members of institutional review boards, and individuals who have conducted research in the responsible conduct of research were surveyed. The survey revealed a predominant amount of variability among the survey’s respondents, and it supports the conclusion that there is great diversity in scientists’ behavioral judgments and decisions, even when dealing with such seemingly simple yet important credit issues.