Research integrity training by stealth

The success of the whole research enterprise relies on the integrity of academics. At an absolute minimum, there is an expectation that researchers don’t fabricate or falsify their data, and don’t plagiarize the work of others. More than that, there is an expectation that researchers work responsibly – according to accepted standards and regulatory codes of practice. And ultimately, researchers should act with real integrity – transparently, openly, fairly, and for the benefit of society. Avoiding misconduct is one thing, but research integrity in that last sense is a tricky business. Researchers face many pressures and perverse career incentives that can compete with good practices. We know that questionable research practices are alarmingly common and there are well-publicized issues of reproducibility – even a “reproducibility crisis”. Some of the issues are outside of the remit of an individual researcher; it is hard to conduct research responsibly if you work in a toxic environment or if your institution fails to give you the tools to comply with best research practices, for example tools to store data safely and securely. Improving research integrity through training One strategy for improving research integrity for individuals is training. The United States Office of Research Integrity recommends that research trainees be given formal training in the responsible conduct of research across nine “core practices” – including, for example, data manageme...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Medical Evidence Publishing peer review research integrity Research Integrity and Peer Review Source Type: blogs