Does the academy need to be bound by a SOX-like protocol?

http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/lorrie_goldstein/2009/11/29/11967916-sun.html

If my former client was bound by SOX because it affected dollars and cents why not the academy? They get dollars & cents via grants and the results of this research (THIS research in particular) will affect the fortunes of millions of people (billions?).

The Toronto Sun produces a summary of one of the CRU Hack files and it is clear that if my last client handled their data and code like these researchers do the SEC (or whoever enforces SOX) would be all over them.

My guess is a lot of that work was done by amateur programmers (budding climatologists) and therefore sloppily handled — but that does not let them off the hook.

Again with my previous client, even for work not under strict SOX guidelines we proceeded as if it was. We had to have code reviewed and signed off on. A simple data update had to go through a slightly streamlined path.

I am not so disappointed by those at and working with the CRU but much more so with the media and governance.

…as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end, amen.