Sir

The gagging of research scientists against the public interest, of which John Ziman writes, will become more difficult next year, at least in the United Kingdom (Nature 395, 856; 857; 1998). The Public Interest Disclosure Act was passed with all-party support in July 1998 and, according to the Department of Trade and Industry, will take effect early next year.

The act protects an employee who discloses that their employer is party to a criminal offence, is failing to fulfil a legal obligation, is endangering health and safety, or is damaging the environment. The disclosure must be made in good faith and not for personal gain. If these conditions are met, the act declares void any clause in the employee's contract that forbids disclosure. The employee is protected against dismissal for making the disclosure and against “being subjected to any detriment” by the employer. Industrial tribunals will process claims and compensation is currently limited to £12,000 (US$19,900), but the government is committed to removing this limit.

The employee must take the matter up with the employer first and, if it is not resolved, can then disclose it more widely. Government employees can inform the relevant minister directly. The delay in implementing the act has resulted from the need to make regulations specifying who employees in other professions should inform and how long they should give employers to act before going public.

The act will create unprecedented transparency in scientific work, as in all other fields of employment. If it had already been in force, for example, the risks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy would have been made public earlier and acted on more quickly, and the mortality rates of patients of certain surgeons at Bristol Royal Infirmary might well have been reported and investigated earlier.