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Reyes Elizondo A, Kaltenbrunner W. Navigating the Science System: Research Integrity and Academic Survival Strategies. SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ETHICS 2024; 30:12. [PMID: 38568341 PMCID: PMC10991043 DOI: 10.1007/s11948-024-00467-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
Research Integrity (RI) is high on the agenda of both institutions and science policy. The European Union as well as national ministries of science have launched ambitious initiatives to combat misconduct and breaches of research integrity. Often, such initiatives entail attempts to regulate scientific behavior through guidelines that institutions and academic communities can use to more easily identify and deal with cases of misconduct. Rather than framing misconduct as a result of an information deficit, we instead conceptualize Questionable Research Practices (QRPs) as attempts by researchers to reconcile epistemic and social forms of uncertainty in knowledge production. Drawing on previous literature, we define epistemic uncertainty as the inherent intellectual unpredictability of scientific inquiry, while social uncertainty arises from the human-made conditions for scientific work. Our core argument-developed on the basis of 30 focus group interviews with researchers across different fields and European countries-is that breaches of research integrity can be understood as attempts to loosen overly tight coupling between the two forms of uncertainty. Our analytical approach is not meant to relativize or excuse misconduct, but rather to offer a more fine-grained perspective on what exactly it is that researchers want to accomplish by engaging in it. Based on the analysis, we conclude by proposing some concrete ways in which institutions and academic communities could try to reconcile epistemic and social uncertainties on a more collective level, thereby reducing incentives for researchers to engage in misconduct.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Reyes Elizondo
- Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Neoh MJY, Carollo A, Lee A, Esposito G. Fifty years of research on questionable research practises in science: quantitative analysis of co-citation patterns. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230677. [PMID: 37859842 PMCID: PMC10582594 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
Questionable research practises (QRPs) have been the focus of the scientific community amid greater scrutiny and evidence highlighting issues with replicability across many fields of science. To capture the most impactful publications and the main thematic domains in the literature on QRPs, this study uses a document co-citation analysis. The analysis was conducted on a sample of 341 documents that covered the past 50 years of research in QRPs. Nine major thematic clusters emerged. Statistical reporting and statistical power emerged as key areas of research, where systemic-level factors in how research is conducted are consistently raised as the precipitating factors for QRPs. There is also an encouraging shift in the focus of research into open science practises designed to address engagement in QRPs. Such a shift is indicative of the growing momentum of the open science movement, and more research can be conducted on how these practises are employed on the ground and how their uptake by researchers can be further promoted. However, the results suggest that, while pre-registration and registered reports receive the most research interest, less attention has been paid to other open science practises (e.g. data sharing).
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Jin Yee Neoh
- Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639818, Singapore
| | - Alessandro Carollo
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto 38068, Italy
| | - Albert Lee
- Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639818, Singapore
| | - Gianluca Esposito
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto 38068, Italy
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Rubin M, Donkin C. Exploratory hypothesis tests can be more compelling than confirmatory hypothesis tests. PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/09515089.2022.2113771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mark Rubin
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Chris Donkin
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
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Sacco DF, Bruton SV, Brown M, Medlin MM. Skin in the Game: Personal Accountability and Journal Peer Review. J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics 2020; 15:330-338. [PMID: 32425095 DOI: 10.1177/1556264620922651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Two preregistered studies explored the likelihood paper reviewers would request clarification from authors regarding potential questionable research practices (QRPs). Study 1 participants were instructed to imagine reviewing a journal manuscript as either a coauthor or peer reviewer and rate the extent to which they would request clarification from the author when encountering potential QRPs. Participants reported greater likelihood of requesting clarification when assigned to the coauthor relative to the peer reviewer role. Study 2 participants were assigned to either an anonymous or open-review condition and rated the extent to which they would seek clarification from an author regarding potential QRPs. Men (but not women) in the open review condition reported greater likelihood of seeking clarification about potential QRPs than men in the blind review condition. Results provide tentative evidence that motivational factors influence the peer review process, and suggestions are made for improving peer review practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donald F Sacco
- The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, USA
| | | | - Mitch Brown
- Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ, USA
| | - Mary M Medlin
- The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, USA
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Brown AW, Altman DG, Baranowski T, Bland JM, Dawson JA, Dhurandhar NV, Dowla S, Fontaine KR, Gelman A, Heymsfield SB, Jayawardene W, Keith SW, Kyle TK, Loken E, Oakes JM, Stevens J, Thomas DM, Allison DB. Childhood obesity intervention studies: A narrative review and guide for investigators, authors, editors, reviewers, journalists, and readers to guard against exaggerated effectiveness claims. Obes Rev 2019; 20:1523-1541. [PMID: 31426126 PMCID: PMC7436851 DOI: 10.1111/obr.12923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2019] [Revised: 07/13/2019] [Accepted: 07/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Being able to draw accurate conclusions from childhood obesity trials is important to make advances in reversing the obesity epidemic. However, obesity research sometimes is not conducted or reported to appropriate scientific standards. To constructively draw attention to this issue, we present 10 errors that are commonly committed, illustrate each error with examples from the childhood obesity literature, and follow with suggestions on how to avoid these errors. These errors are as follows: using self-reported outcomes and teaching to the test; foregoing control groups and risking regression to the mean creating differences over time; changing the goal posts; ignoring clustering in studies that randomize groups of children; following the forking paths, subsetting, p-hacking, and data dredging; basing conclusions on tests for significant differences from baseline; equating "no statistically significant difference" with "equally effective"; ignoring intervention study results in favor of observational analyses; using one-sided testing for statistical significance; and stating that effects are clinically significant even though they are not statistically significant. We hope that compiling these errors in one article will serve as the beginning of a checklist to support fidelity in conducting, analyzing, and reporting childhood obesity research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew W Brown
- Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana
| | - Douglas G Altman
- Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology, and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Tom Baranowski
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Houston, Texas
| | - J Martin Bland
- Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK
| | - John A Dawson
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
| | | | - Shima Dowla
- School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
| | - Kevin R Fontaine
- Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
| | - Andrew Gelman
- Department of Statistics and Department of Political Science, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Steven B Heymsfield
- Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
| | - Wasantha Jayawardene
- Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana
| | - Scott W Keith
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Division of Biostatistics, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | | | - Eric Loken
- Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
| | - J Michael Oakes
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
| | - June Stevens
- Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Diana M Thomas
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York
| | - David B Allison
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis C Wood
- US Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Jonathan D Wren
- Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Research Program, Division of Genomics and Data Sciences, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City
| | - David B Allison
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Indiana University, Bloomington
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