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Scientific misconduct of researchers causes great waste of academic resources and academic life, which is not only related to the vigorous development of a country’s scientific undertaking, but also directly affects the reputation of the country in the field of scientific research. Based on the analysis of the causes of scientific misconduct of medical researchers in China, this paper comprehensively summarized a series of mature experiences of extraterritorial medical field in preventing scientific misconduct, and put forward corresponding and reasonable countermeasures and suggestions for China’s scientific research governance from three aspects: establishing an effective governance structure based on the normative framework, clarifying the definition standards of scientific research dishonesty in laws and regulations, and formulating good prevention procedures in a healthy academic environment, in order to promote the healthy development of scientific research in China’s medical field and further promote the innovation and progress of medical science and technology.
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A prática de más condutas éticas parece ser rotineira na graduação. Dessa forma, abordar a conduta ética na formação é um ponto de partida para promover o debate sobre a construção do conhecimento. Este estudo teve o objetivo analisar a conduta ética de graduandos em Nutrição. Realizou-se estudo transversal com estudantes de Nutrição de uma universidade pública-Brasil. Participaram 105 alunos: 42,9% eram do 1º ao 5º semestres e 57,1% do 6º ao 9º semestres. Os alunos dos semestres finais apresentaram maior prevalência de "deixar os colegas copiarem as respostas" (p=0,05), "usar trabalhos prontos" (p=0,04) e "incluir nome em trabalho sem colaboração" (p=0,01). As principais motivações para a má conduta ética foram: má conduta dos colegas (71,4%), acreditar que os professores cometeram má conduta ética (70,5%), disciplina difícil (52,4%) e manter boas notas (50,5%). Os alunos dos últimos semestres referiram a falta de tempo (p=0,05) como uma razão, e 10,5% afirmaram ter realizado consultas de nutrição sem supervisão. Dada a elevada prevalência de más condutas éticas na graduação sugere-se que a disciplina sobre ética seja ministrada nos semestres iniciais, além de realização de cursos e rodas de conversa sobre propriedade intelectual, conduta ética, gestão do tempo e metodologias de ensino.
The practice of academic misconduct seems to be routine in undergraduate studies. Therefore, addressing ethical conduct in training is a starting point to promote debate on the construction of knowledge. This study aimed to analyze the academic misconduct of nutrition undergraduates. A cross-sectional study was performed with Nutrition students at a public university in Brazil. Participants included 105 students took part in the study: 42.9% were on the 1st to the 5th semesters and 57.1% on the 6th to the 9th semesters. Students on the final semesters had a higher prevalence of "letting the colleagues copy the answers" (p=0.05), "using ready-made work" (p=0.04), and "included their name on a paper without collaboration" (p=0.01). The main motivations for academic misconduct were: colleagues cheating (71.4%), believing that professors had committed misconduct (70.5%), difficult subjects (52.4%), and maintaining good grades (50.5%). Students on the last semesters reported lack of time (p=0.05) as a reason, and 10.5% mentioned having performed nutrition appointments without supervision. Given the high prevalence of academic misconduct in undergraduate courses, it is suggested that the discipline on ethics be taught in the initial semesters, in addition to offering courses and conversation circles on intellectual property, ethical conduct, time management, and teaching methodologies.
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This statement revises our earlier "WAME Recommendations on ChatGPT and Chatbots in Relation to Scholarly Publications" (January 20, 2023). The revision reflects the proliferation of chatbots and their expanding use in scholarly publishing over the last few months, as well as emerging concerns regarding lack of authenticity of content when using chatbots. These recommendations are intended to inform editors and help them develop policies for the use of chatbots in papers published in their journals. They aim to help authors and reviewers understand how best to attribute the use of chatbots in their work and to address the need for all journal editors to have access to manuscript screening tools. In this rapidly evolving field, we will continue to modify these recommendations as the software and its applications develop.
Esta declaración revisa las anteriores "Recomendaciones de WAME sobre ChatGPT y Chatbots en Relation to Scholarly Publications" (20 de enero de 2023). La revisión refleja la proliferación de chatbots y su creciente uso en las publicaciones académicas en los últimos meses, así como la preocupación por la falta de autenticidad de los contenidos cuando se utilizan chatbots. Estas recomendaciones pretenden informar a los editores y ayudarles a desarrollar políticas para el uso de chatbots en los artículos sometidos en sus revistas. Su objetivo es ayudar a autores y revisores a entender cuál es la mejor manera de atribuir el uso de chatbots en su trabajo y a la necesidad de que todos los editores de revistas tengan acceso a herramientas de selección de manuscritos. En este campo en rápida evolución, seguiremos modificando estas recomendaciones a medida que se desarrollen el software y sus aplicaciones.
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La presión que existe hoy por publicar ha llevado a que muchos investigadores cometan malas conductas científicas, siendo el fraude la más grave de todas. Este ocurre en forma de fabricación, falsificación, plagio, problemas de autoría, manipulación de imágenes y publicaciones redundantes. El fraude científico se define como una tergiversación deliberada por parte de alguien que conoce la verdad. En la historia de la humanidad se han conocido importantes casos de fraude científico, dentro de ellos se pueden destacar: el hombre de Piltdown, caso Shinichi Fujimura, el escándalo de las vacunas, caso Pearce, el caso Yoshitaka Fujii, entre otros. Con el objetivo de neutralizar el fraude, se han desarrollado diferentes estrategias dirigidas a detectarlo, dentro de ellas encontramos: evaluación mediante pares evaluadores, programas de Conducta de Investigación Responsable (RCR), regulaciones que la misma comunidad científica realiza, donde encontramos la fundación PubPeer y el blog For Better Science. Del mismo modo, se han impuesto diferentes medidas para contrarrestar el fraude, tales como: transparencia de las presiones y oportunidades, disponibilidad pública de los datos que sustentan la hipótesis y denuncia pública de los fraudes científicos. El impacto de un fraude trae consecuencias importantes para la ciencia, estudiar a partir de información falsa o errónea conlleva a un gran retroceso en los avances científicos del mundo actual. Es responsabilidad de cada uno ser consciente de lo que se escribe y lo que se lee, ya que como se sabe, esa es la única manera de combatirlo. Como investigadores somos responsables de actuar éticamente en nuestras investigaciones y tener conocimiento de las medidas que existen hoy para detectar y combatir el fraude científico.
The pressure to publish today has led many researchers to commit scientific misconduct, fraud being the most serious of all. This occurs in the form of fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, authorship problems, image manipulation, and redundant posting. Scientific fraud is defined as deliberate misrepresentation by someone who knows the truth. In the history of humanity, important cases of scientific fraud have been known, among them the following can be highlighted: the Piltdown man, the Shinichi Fujimura case, the vaccine scandal, the Pearce case, the Yoshitaka Fujii case, among others. In order to neutralize fraud, different strategies have been developed to detect it, among them we find: evaluation by peer reviewers, Responsible Research Conduct (RCR) programs, regulations that the scientific community itself carries out, where we find the PubPeer Foundation and the For Better Science blog. Similarly, different measures have been imposed to counteract fraud, such as: transparency of pressures and opportunities, public availability of the data that support the hypothesis, and public denunciation of scientific fraud. The impact of a fraud has important consequences for science, studying from false or wrong information leads to a great setback in scientific advances in the world today. It is the responsibility of each one to be aware of what is written and what is read, since as is known, that is the only way to combat it. As researchers we are responsible for acting ethically in our research and being aware of the measures that exist today to detect and combat scientific fraud.
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Scientific Misconduct , Biomedical Research , Authorship , Plagiarism , FraudABSTRACT
el objetivo de este trabajo es analizar fallas a la integridad científica por parte de personal de investigación latinoamericano. Metodología: se realizaron cuestionarios anónimos y voluntarios después de tratar este tema en 121 cursos de redacción científica / taller de tesis dictados en Latinoamérica, sobre todo en Argentina, durante 20 años (2001-2020). Resultados: las 2064 respuestas válidas mostraron que un 60 % tenía cinco o más años de egreso, 48,6 % señalaron coautoría indebida y 28,9 % que su nombre fue omitido de publicaciones. Un 24,9 % reconoció haber cometido alguna clase de mala conducta en su carrera. La coacción a que fue sometido para que lo hiciera fue reconocida por un 56,7 %. El 60,7 % de las 512 personas ignoraba que era un error. La coautoría indebida fue la mala conducta más frecuente (46 %), seguida de plagio y falseamiento de datos. En relatos conocidos de primera mano se destacan: publicación en salamín, duplicación y robo de datos, así como soborno y manipulación de imágenes. Ninguna de las personas que tomaron cursos previos de formación en bioética (0/560) cometieron motu propio actos inadecuados. Conclusión: el personal científico comete un porcentaje relativamente elevado de fallas a la integridad científica; impartir cursos de integridad científica tiene un fuerte rol en el autocontrol para evitarlas.
Objective: This work aims to analyze failures in scientific integrity on the part of Latin American research personnel. Methodology: anonymous and voluntary questionnaires were carried out after dealing with this topic in 121 scientific writing courses/thesis workshops in Latin America, mainly in Argentina, for 20 years (2001-2020). Results: The 2064 valid responses showed that 60% had five or more years of graduation, 48.6% indicated improper co-authorship, and 28.9% that their name was omitted from publications. 24.9% acknowledged having omitted their name from publications. Some 24.9% acknowledged having committed some misconduct in their career. The coercion to which he was subjected to do so was recognized by 56.7%. 60.7 % of the 512 people were unaware that it was a mistake. Misconduct was the most frequent misconduct (46 %), followed by plagiarism and misrepresentation of data. In first-hand accounts, salami publication, data duplication, theft, bribery, and image manipulation stand out. None of the persons who took previous bioethics training courses (0/560) committed inappropriate acts of their own accord. Conclusion: scientific personnel commits a relatively high percentage of scientific integrity failures; providing scientific integrity courses has a decisive role in self-monitoring to avoid them.
Objetivo: analisar falhas na integridade científica por parte de equipe de pesquisa latino- -americana. Metodologia: foram analisados questionários anônimos e voluntários depois de tratar esse tema em 121 cursos de redação científica/oficina de tese ministrados na América Latina, principalmente na Argentina, durante 20 anos (2001-2020). Resultados: as 2.064 respostas válidas mostraram que 60 % tinham cinco ou mais anos de formados, 48,6 % indicaram coautoria indevida e 28,9 % que seu nome foi omitido de publicações. 24,9 % reconheceram ter cometido alguma classe de mau comportamento em sua carreira. A coação a qual foi submetido para que o fizesse foi reconhecida por 56,7 %. 60,7 % das 512 pessoas ignoravam que era um erro. A coautoria indevida foi o mau comportamento mais frequente (46 %), seguida de plágio e falseamento de dados. Em relatos conhecidos de primeira mão se destacam: publicação "salame", duplicação e roubo de dados, bem como suborno e manipulação de imagens. Nenhuma das pessoas que fizeram cursos prévios de formação em bioética (0/560) cometeram motu propio atos inadequados. Conclusão: o pessoal científico comete uma porcentagem relativamente elevado de falhas na integridade científica; dar cursos de integridade científica tem um forte papel no autocontrole para evitá-las.
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O objetivo deste artigo é revelar o comportamento nas mídias sociais de estudantes de cursos de graduação na área da saúde do ponto de vista da ética profissional. Realizou-se uma revisão integrativa da literatura com base na pergunta norteadora: "Há condutas não profissionais na produção de conteúdo nas mídias sociais por estudantes da área da saúde?". Foram encontrados 495 estudos nas bases de dados pesquisadas. Destes, dez atenderam aos critérios de inclusão. Os estudos incluídos haviam sido feitos com estudantes dos cursos de enfermagem, medicina e odontologia. Todos demonstraram sua má conduta nas mídias sociais em algum momento. Há mais relatos de visualizações de condutas antiprofissionais nos perfis de outros colegas do que autorrelatos quanto a esse aspecto. Conclui-se que é evidente a má conduta, nas mídias sociais, de estudantes de enfermagem, medicina e odontologia
This article aims to reveal the behavior of medical, nursing and dental students from the point of view of professional ethics on social media. An integrative review was carried out based on the research question: "Are there unprofessional behaviors in the production of content on social media by medical, nursing and dental students?". A total of 495 studies, of which ten have satisfied the inclusion criteria, were found in the searched databases. The included studies had been carried out with students from universities for nursing, medical and dentistry education. Everyone has demonstrated misconduct on social media at a moment or other. There are more assertions that they see unprofessional behaviors in the profiles of other colleagues than self-assertions regarding this aspect. We can conclude that the misconduct of medical, nursing and dental students on social networks is evident
El objetivo de este artículo es revelar el comportamiento, en las redes sociales, de los estudiantes de cursos del área de la salud del punto de vista de la ética profesional. Se realizó una revisión integrativa a partir de la pregunta de investigación: "¿Existen comportamientos no profesionales en la producción de contenidos en redes sociales por parte de estudiantes del área de la salud?". Se encontraron 495 estudios, de los cuales diez han cumplido los criterios de inclusión, en las bases de datos investigadas. Los estudios habían sido realizados con estudiantes de los cursos de enfermería, medicina y odontología. Todos ellos han demostrado mala conducta en las redes sociales en algún momento. Hay más afirmaciones acerca de visualizaciones de comportamientos no profesionales en los perfiles de otros compañeros que autoaserciones sobre este aspecto. Es posible concluir que la mala conducta de estudiantes de enfermería, medicina y odontologíaen las redes sociales es evidente
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Humans , Students, Dental , Students, Medical , Students, Nursing , Catchment Area, Health , Health , Social Media , Professional Misconduct , EthicsABSTRACT
A má conduta científica vem sendo observada ao longo da história da ciência, entretanto, nas últimas décadas teve um crescimento exponencial, e um exemplo disso foi a época da pandemia da COVID-19. Ficamos a refletir sobre o potencial impacto que uma evidência frágil pode gerar a partir de um convencimento de uma prática ou tomada de decisão profissional. Isso pode ocorrer devido a falhas no sistema educacional, na formação de pesquisadores e até mesmo a desvios morais e éticos.
Scientific misconduct has been observed throughout the history of science. However, it has grown exponentially in recent decades, an example of which was the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. We reflect on the potential impact of weak evidence from a convincing practice or professional decision-making. This situation can occur due to educational system failures, training of researchers, and even moral and ethical deviations.
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Scientific Misconduct , Health Research Evaluation , Scientific Experimental ErrorABSTRACT
Objective:The present study was designed to strengthen the education of research integrity, and to improve the awareness of academic misconduct and academic literacy of medical post-graduate students.Methods:A questionnaire survey was conducted with master post-graduate students of a university affiliated hospital, and statistical analysis on the education of research integrity and the perception of academic misconduct among the survey respondents was performed.Results:Academic master post-graduate students′ cognitions of the misconduct in scientific research process and overall academic misconduct were better than that of professional master post-graduate students, and there were significant differences ( P<0.05). The more times of participation in research integrity training, the better cognition of misconduct of scientific research process, research results publication process, and overall academic misconduct, with significant differences ( P<0.05). Conclusions:The education on scientific research integrity of medical post-graduates should be carried out systematically, while the content should be improved and the form should be enriched for scientific research integrity education, so that the medical post-graduates can have a deeper understanding of the code of academic practices, and an education model of scientific research integrity for medical post-graduate which is suitable for China′s national conditions can be gradually developed.
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Objetivo: analisar os conhecimentos dos estudantes de pós-graduação em enfermagem sobre má conduta em pesquisa. Método: estudo qualitativo, descritivo e exploratório, norteado pelos critérios do Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research: a synthesis of recommendations, realizada com 40 estudantes de mestrado e doutorado, de uma universidade pública situada no Sul do Brasil. Os dados foram coletados por intermédio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, em outubro de 2020, com a utilização de aplicativo síncrono, os quais foram submetidos à análise textual discursiva. O protocolo de pesquisa foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa. Resultados: emergiram duas categorias: Integridade científica versus má conduta: fatores determinantes e Tipos e definições de má conduta. Conclusão: Os pós-graduandos possuem conhecimento coeso relacionado à gravidade dos comportamentos inadequados nas pesquisas científicas, bem como as consequências nocivas advindas dessa conduta, contemplando um domínio abstrato quando relacionado às questões de moralidade e integridade e sua absoluta inversão.
Objective: to examine postgraduate nursing students' knowledge of research misconduct. Method: this exploratory, qualitative, descriptive study, guided by the criteria of the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research: a synthesis of recommendations, considered 40 master's and doctoral students at a public university in southern Brazil. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, in October 2020, using a synchronous application, and treated by textual discourse analysis. The study was approved by the research ethics committee. Results: two categories emerged: "Scientific integrity versus misconduct: determining factors" and "Types and definitions of misconduct". Conclusion: postgraduate students have cohesive knowledge of the severity of inappropriate behavior in scientific research and of the harmful consequences of such conduct, contemplating an abstract domain when related to questions of morality and integrity and their absolute inversion.
Objetivo: analizar el conocimiento de los estudiantes de postgrado en enfermería sobre la mala conducta en investigación. Método: investigación cualitativa, descriptiva y exploratoria, guiada por los criterios de los Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research: a synthesis of recommendations, realizada junto a 40 estudiantes de máster y doctorado de una universidad pública ubicada en el sur de Brasil. Los datos fueron recolectados a través de entrevistas semiestructuradas, en octubre de 2020, utilizando una aplicación síncrona, y después sometidos a análisis textual discursivo. El Comité de Ética en Investigación aprobó el protocolo de investigación. Resultados: surgieron dos categorías: Integridad científica versus mala conducta: factores determinantes y Tipos y definiciones de mala conducta. Conclusión: Los estudiantes de postgrado tienen conocimientos cohesionados con respecto a la gravedad de las conductas inadecuadas en la investigación científica, así como las consecuencias nocivas derivadas de esas conductas, contemplando un dominio abstracto cuando relacionado con cuestiones de moralidad e integridad y su inversión absoluta.
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Background: The objective of retracting flawed publications is to maintain the integrity of scientific literature. Retractions in the dental literature have been on the rise in recent years. Hence, we aimed to review retracted articles related to dentistry. Methods: A search was conducted of the MEDLINE database for retracted articles in the dental literature published between April 1, 1993 and March 31, 2020. The retracted articles and the notices of retraction were reviewed, and the findings are presented. Results: During the selected period, 143 articles were retracted. Redundant publication (n=50, 35%) was the most common reason for retraction, followed by plagiarism (n=43, 30.1%) and data manipulation (n=42, 29.4%). Around 70.6% (n=101) of retracted articles were original articles. Eight (5.6%) of the articles were single authored. The retracted articles have been cited by about 1300 publications, after the date of publication of the retraction notice. The gap between publication and retraction was longer for funded articles than for non-funded articles, and for articles retracted for data manipulation than for articles retracted for other types of misconduct. Twenty-one journals and nine authors retracted two or more papers. The majority of authors of retracted articles (224, 37%) were from India. Conclusion: Our study showed that the retraction of publications due to misconduct such as duplicate publication, plagiarism, data manipulation is a matter of concern and calls for strict measures to curb the menace of research misconduct.
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The discovery of a case of data manipulation resulting in retraction of a high-impact paper revived conversations around scientific misconduct in India. Such malpractice is neither new nor rare. When it is discovered, there is a tendency to push the blame onto a junior author. But what makes one eligible to be an author in a scientific manuscript? In a case of misconduct, which authors must take the blame, and how do we hold them accountable? In this essay, I use the case of the recent retraction mentioned above to highlight the contentious nature of authorship in science
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Objective:To understand the cognition of research integrity of in-service medical staff in a tertiary hospital in Xinjiang, provide possible reference for research integrity training.Methods:In March 2021, an electronic questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate the knowledge of scientific research integrity of in-service medical staff in a tertiary hospital in Xinjiang. T test and analysis of variance were used for univariate analysis, and multiple linear regression was used for multivariate analysis.Results:550 valid questionnaires were collected in total, and the overall awareness rate of scientific research integrity of in-service medical staff was less than 60%. Univariate analysis showed that there were differences in cognitive score of scientific research integrity among medical staff who participating in different scientific research activities ( P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the educational level of the in-service medical staff, whether they participated in scientific research training, whether they had the qualifications of graduate student supervisor, the interaction between educational level and participation in scientific research training was statistically significant ( P<0.05). LSD test of educational level and participation in scientific research training showed that there was a statistically significant difference in educational level of participation in scientific research training ( P<0.01). Conclusions:The cognition of research integrity on in-service medical staff in a tertiary hospital in Xinjiang need to be enhanced, and their knowledge of research integrity need to be improved. Various measures should be carried out to strengthen the research integrity education and training, so as to improve the level of medical staff’s cognition of research integrity, and improve the medical staff’s attitudes of research integrity.
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Objective:To explore the countermeasures to strengthen hospital scientific research management and prevent research misconduct by studying the characteristics of research misconduct cases investigated by the NSFC in recent three years.Methods:Information of a total number of 67 research misconduct cases in 6 batches that publicly reported by the NSFC from 2019 to 2021 were collected, classified statistics were conducted on the situation of the supporting units involved, the specific issues of Misconduct and the disciplinary measures of the NSFC. According to the frequency proportion of misconduct problems, the tendency characteristics and reasons were analyzed and summarized, countermeasures and suggestions were put forward.Results:96.36% of the main responsibility entity of research misconduct was individuals, and 3.63% of the main responsibility of relying institution. There were 62 cases of research misconduct due to scientific papers and applications, accounted for 92.50%. Among the problematic papers involved, data fraud accounted for 48.20%, false signature or unauthorized signature accounted for 35.97%, plagiarism accounted for 32.37%, and unauthorized marking of other people′s fund number accounted for 27.33%. The NSFC revoked 55 fund projects involved and recovered funds, 67 people were disqualified from applying for projects with a maximum of 7 years and a minimum of 2 years, and 2 peer-review experts were punished.Conclusion:Hospital scientific research management should draw lessons from others, and put forward specific countermeasures from the aspects of strengthening scientific research integrity education, improving the construction of supervision mechanism, strictly implementing process management and perfecting scientific research credit evaluation system, in order to provide possible reference for preventing misconduct in hospital scientific research management practice.
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Objective:By analyzing the biomedical papers retracted due to the reason that " original data not provided" , to discuss the necessity of preventing scientific data misconduct and the feasible solutions for its management.Methods:Data of the international papers that were published from Jan 2011 to Dec 2021 and retracted due to " original data not provided" were retrieved from Retraction Watch Database. The data of time distribution, institution, journal sources, reasons for retraction, and disciplinary distribution were statistically analyzed and visually processed by using software packages of Excel, Python 3.7, Gephi 0.92.Results:A total number of 529 papers published in the biomedical field were retracted due to " original data not provided" , and the time of publication and retraction occurred mainly in 2019 (27.41%) and 2021 (41.97%). In addition to the reason " original data not provided" used as search term, the reasons for withdrawal were mainly data and image problems caused by scientific data misconduct, and reasons related to the discovery and investigation process of the paper, and these reasons had a strong co-linear relationship. Besides, the 4 disciplinary of biology-cellular, biology-cancer, genetics, medicine-oncology also had a strong co-linear relationship.Conclusions:It is necessary to incorporating scientific research data management into the scientific research code of conduct, strengthen the training on the code of conduct for original scientific research records keeping, establish the scientific research data review mechanism, and promote the prevention and governance of scientific research data misconduct in the biomedical field.
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ABSTRACT Objective. To describe the editorial processing time of published COVID-19 research articles and compare this with a similar topic, human influenza, and analyze the number of publications, withdrawals, and retractions. Methods. A descriptive-analytical study using PubMed on research articles with the MeSH terms human influenza and COVID-19. Time to acceptance (from submission to acceptance) and time to publication (from acceptance to publication) were compared. Retractions and withdrawals were reviewed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Results. There were 31 319 research articles on COVID-19 and 4 287 on human influenza published during 2020. The median time to acceptance for COVID-19 was lower than that for human influenza (8 vs. 92 days). The median time to publication for COVID-19 articles was shorter than those on human influenza (12 vs. 16 days); 47.0% of COVID-19 research articles were accepted within the first week of submission, and 19.5% within one day. There were 82 retractions and withdrawals for COVID-19 articles, 1 for human influenza, and 5 for articles that contain both terms; these were mainly related to ethical misconduct, and 27 (31.0%) were published by the same group of authors in one highest-quartile journal. Conclusions. The conundrum between fast publishing and adequate standards is shown in this analysis of COVID-19 research articles. The speed of acceptance for COVID-19 manuscripts was 11.5 times faster than for human influenza. The high number of acceptances within a day or week of submission and the number of retractions and withdrawals of COVID-19 papers might be a warning sign about the possible lack of a quality control process in scientific publishing and the peer review process.
RESUMEN Objetivo. Describir el tiempo de procesamiento editorial de los artículos de investigación sobre la COVID-19 publicados, compararlo con un tema similar, la gripe humana, y analizar el número de publicaciones realizadas, el de artículos retirados y el de retractaciones. Métodos. Usando PubMed, se llevó a cabo un estudio descriptivo y analítico sobre artículos de investigación con los términos en inglés correspondientes a "gripe humana" y "COVID-19" en el MeSH. Se compararon el tiempo de aceptación (desde la presentación hasta la aceptación) y el tiempo de publicación (desde la aceptación hasta la publicación). Se examinaron las publicaciones retiradas y las retractaciones de manera cualitativa y cuantitativa. Resultados. Hubo 31 319 artículos de investigación sobre la COVID-19 y 4 287 sobre la gripe humana publicados en el año 2020. La mediana del tiempo de aceptación de los artículos sobre la COVID-19 fue inferior que la mediana de la gripe humana (8 días en contraste con 92 días). La mediana del tiempo de publicación de los artículos sobre la COVID-19 fue menor que la de los artículos sobre la gripe humana (12 días en contraste con 16 días). El 47,0 % de los artículos de investigación sobre la COVID-19 se aceptaron en la primera semana de presentación, y el 19,5 %, en un día. Hubo 82 retractaciones y retiradas de artículos sobre la COVID-19, una sobre la gripe humana y 5 de artículos que contenían ambos términos; estas retractaciones y retiradas estuvieron relacionadas principalmente con faltas de conducta ética. Además, hubo 27 artículos (31,0 %) publicados por el mismo grupo de autores en una revista de cuartil más alto. Conclusiones. El dilema entre la publicación rápida y unas normas adecuadas se muestra en este análisis de artículos de investigación sobre la COVID-19. La velocidad de aceptación de los manuscritos sobre la COVID-19 fue 11,5 veces mayor que la velocidad de aceptación de los artículos sobre la gripe humana. El alto número de aceptaciones en un día o una semana desde la presentación y el número de retractaciones y retiradas de artículos sobre la COVID-19 podría ser un signo de advertencia acerca de la posible falta de un proceso de control de calidad en las publicaciones científicas y especialmente en el proceso de arbitraje.
RESUMO Objetivo. Descrever o tempo de processamento editorial dos artigos de pesquisa publicados sobre COVID-19, compará-lo com o de artigos sobre um tema semelhante (gripe humana) e analisar o número de publicações, suspensões e retratações. Métodos. Estudo descritivo-analítico. Foi realizada uma busca no PubMed usando os descritores MeSH "human influenza" e "COVID-19". O tempo até a aceitação (da submissão à aceitação) e o tempo até a publicação (da aceitação à publicação) foram comparados. Retratações e suspensões foram analisadas qualitativa e quantitativamente. Resultados. Foram publicados 31 319 artigos de pesquisa sobre a COVID-19 e 4 287 sobre a gripe humana em 2020. O tempo médio de aceitação de artigos sobre COVID-19 foi menor que o de artigos sobre gripe humana (8 versus 92 dias). O tempo médio até publicação dos artigos sobre COVID-19 foi menor que o de artigos sobre gripe humana (12 versus 16 dias); 47,0% dos artigos sobre COVID-19 foram aceitos na primeira semana após a submissão, e 19,5%, dentro de um dia. Houve 82 retratações e suspensões de artigos sobre COVID-19, 1 sobre gripe humana, e 5 de artigos que continham ambos os termos, principalmente relacionadas a má conduta ética; 27 (31,0%) desses artigos foram publicados pelo mesmo grupo de autores, em uma revista do mais alto quartil. Conclusões. O dilema entre publicar rapidamente e manter padrões adequados fica claro nesta análise de artigos sobre COVID-19. Manuscritos sobre COVID-19 foram aceitos 11,5 vezes mais rapidamente do que artigos sobre gripe humana. O alto número de aceitações em um dia ou semana após a submissão e o número de retratações e suspensões de artigos sobre COVID-19 alertam sobre uma possível falta de controle de qualidade na publicação científica e no processo de revisão por pares.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The Ethics Committees of medical associations define standards of conduct to avoid improper professional behavior. AIM: To identify the areas of professional behavior with most allegations of misconduct. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Analysis of all ethical claims received at the Regional Ethics Court of the Chilean Medical Association between 2016 and 2021. RESULTS: Of 323 cases analyzed, 17% of complaints argued a failure in achieving a satisfactory standard of medical care, 15% unprofessional behavior, 14% disruptive interaction among physicians, 12% failure to fulfill therapeutic expectations, 6% poor quality of care, 6% fraud, 6% complains against institutions, 6% sexual misconduct, 6% inappropriate billing, 3% diagnostic errors, 3% inappropriate social behaviors, 1% refusal to provide a sick leave and 1% illegal practice. Only 41.5% of complaints were filed against registered physicians, thus limiting the capabilities of the medical ethical board. CONCLUSIONS: The most common complaints observed were professional misconduct and relationship problems between physicians.
Subject(s)
Humans , Physicians , Professional Misconduct , Chile , Ethics Committees , Ethics, Medical , FraudABSTRACT
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: In plastic surgery, a lack of ethical and moral behavior by professionals can result in unfortunate circumstances and can justify ethical-disciplinary procedures. OBJECTIVE: To review 421 plastic surgery professional-misconduct cases filed before the São Paulo State Medical Board (CREMESP) between 2008 and 2017. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study conducted in a medical council. METHODS: The cases were categorized according to sex, age, medical specialty (plastic surgery, other field or none), medical ethics code chapter(s) involved, ethics code articles violated and board ruling/outcome. RESULTS: Most of the defendants were men over 40 years of age who were experienced in their professional practice and who graduated from public and private universities all over Brazil; 47.74% had a specialist title in plastic surgery. Violation of professional responsibility (medical malpractice, recklessness or negligence) was the commonest complaint (28.43%), followed by medical advertising (24.19%) and poor doctor-patient relationship (10.39%), in violation of articles 18, 51, 75 and 1. Among the 233 cases adjudicated over this period, 133 resulted in disciplinary sanction, 80 were ruled in the physician's favor and 20 were dismissed. CONCLUSION: Classification of plastic surgery professional-misconduct cases creates possibilities for adopting preventive measures for good practice in this specialty, which would consequently reduce the number of complaints to the regional medical boards.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Surgery, Plastic , Physician-Patient Relations , Brazil , Cross-Sectional Studies , Professional MisconductABSTRACT
RESUMEN Introducción: Los problemas con la autoría de los artículos son frecuentes; sin embargo, en Cuba existen pocas investigaciones sobre el tema. Objetivo: Determinar los cambios de autoría en la publicación de los trabajos presentados en fórums nacionales estudiantiles de ciencias médicas en Cuba y sus factores asociados. Métodos: Estudio observacional y transversal con empleo de técnicas analíticas, que incluyó a la totalidad de los trabajos presentados en las ediciones 2016, 2017 y 2019 del Fórum Nacional de Ciencias Médicas. Mediante una estrategia de búsqueda en Google Académico se constató si los trabajos habían sido publicados en revistas científicas. Luego se identificaron los cambios en la autoría y se buscaron factores asociados. Se obtuvieron razones de prevalencia (RPa), intervalos de confianza al 95 % y valores p mediante modelos lineales generalizados. Resultados: De los 129 trabajos publicados, el 89,9 % (n= 116) tuvo cambios de autoría. En el análisis multivariado, hubo más frecuencia de cambios en los autores cuando los artículos se publicaron en revistas de profesionales (RPa: 1,29; IC 95 %: 1,11-1,50; p= 0,001) y cuando la publicación se dio posterior al evento (RPa: 1,20; IC 95 %: 1,01-1,42; p= 0,042); lo cual fue contrario cuando el autor para la correspondencia fue estudiante (RPa: 0,79; IC 95 %: 0,66-0,95; p= 0,010), ajustado por tres variables. Conclusiones: Casi la totalidad de los artículos tiene cambios en los autores y existen algunos factores asociados a una mayor o menor frecuencia en esos cambios (publicación, tiempo y autor corresponsal).
ABSTRACT Introduction: The problems with the articles' authorship are frequent; however, in Cuba there are few investigations on the topic. Objective: To determine the authorship changes in the publication of works presented in medical student forums at national level in Cuba and its associated factors. Methods: Observational and cross-sectional study using analytical techniques, that included all the works presented in 2016, 2017 and 2019 editions of the medical student forums at national level. A Google Scholar search strategy was carried out in order to check if these works had been published in scientific journals. After, authorship changes were identified and associated factors were looked for. Prevalence ratios (aPR), 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) and p values using generalized linear models were obtained. Results: Of the 129 published works, 89,9 % (n= 116) had authorship changes. In the multivariate analysis, there was more frequency of authorship changes when the articles were published in professionals' journals (aPR: 1,29; IC 95 %: 1,11 - 1,50; p= 0,001) and when the publication occurred later to the event (aPR: 1,20; IC 95 %: 1,01 - 1,42; p= 0,042); that which was contrary when the corresponding author was a student (aPR: 0,79; IC 95 %: 0,66 - 0,95; p= 0,010), adjusted by three variables. Conclusion: Almost the entirety of the articles had authorship changes and some factors associated to a higher or smaller frequency in those changes were determined (publication, time and corresponding author).
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 promises to reshape every aspect of society, not excluding how science is perceived.However, it is not clear whether the authority of science and scientists will be enhanced or diminished, or whether such changes will affect mainly science as an endeavour or scientists as individuals. The aim of this paper is to analyzehow a pandemic like COVID-19 could undermined the confidence in science and scientist and, to underline now, more thanever, the importance of trust in science and in scientists. Two main issues will be analyzed: first, we will analyzehow putting science and scientists in the spotlight could impact science and scientists and, secondly, we will go through the history of COVID treatment and research to anticipate how misconduct and breaches on responsible conduct in research could undermine trust in science with serious risks and consequences.
A pandemia da COVID-19 terá influências indeléveis em todos os sectores da sociedade, não excluindo a forma como a ciência é percecionada. No entanto, hoje, não se sabe como a confiança na ciência e nos cientistas será afectada pela pandemia e se tais mudanças afetarão principalmente a ciência como um empreendimento ou os cientistas como indivíduos. Assim, o objetivo deste artigo é analisar como uma pandemia como a COVID-19 pode afectar a confiança na ciência e nos cientistas e sublinhar, numa alturatão crítica para todos, a importância da confiança na ciência e nos cientistas. Duas questões principais serão analisadas: primeiro, como o facto de colocar a ciência e os cientistas no centro das atenções e das decisões poderá impactar a forma como a sociedade confia e acredita na ciência e nos cientistas e, em segundo lugar, a história dos progressos e retrocessos nos tratamentos e na investigação científica sobre a pandemia para, desse modo, destacarmos-mos a importância da integridade científica e, mais de que nunca, da necessidade de condutas responsáveis em investigação.
La COVID-19 promete remodelar todos los aspectos de la sociedad, sin excluir cómo se percibe laciencia. Sin embargo, no está claro si la autoridad de la ciencia y los científicos aumentará o disminuirá, o si tales cambios afectarán principalmente a la ciencia como esfuerzo o a los científicos como individuos.El objetivo de este trabajo es analizarcómo una pandemia como COVID-19 podría socavar la confianza en la ciencia y los científicos y, subrayar ahora, más que nunca, la importancia de la confianza en la ciencia y en los científicos. Dos temas principales serán los que analizar: primero, analizaremos cómo poner a la ciencia y los científicos en el centro de atención podría impactar a la ciencia y los científicos y, en segundo lugar, repasaremos la historia del tratamiento y la investigación de COVID para anticipar cómo la mala conducta y las infracciones a la conducta responsable. en la investigación podría socavar la confianza en la ciencia con graves riesgos y consecuencias.
ABSTRACT
Resumo Este estudo reflete sobre o plágio e a fraude na produção científica brasileira por meio de revisão integrativa de artigos publicados entre janeiro de 2009 e junho de 2019. As publicações foram buscadas nas bases DOAJ, Lilacs, PubMed, SciELO e Web of Science, com os descritores exatos "plagiarism", "scientific misconduct", "fraud" e "Brazil". Com a rápida expansão da internet e o desenvolvimento tecnológico, os casos de má conduta na produção científica aumentaram, ocorrendo, por exemplo, adulteração, invenção ou reutilização de dados, múltiplas submissões, conflitos de autoria e de interesses, publicação "salame" (fracionada) e plágio. Entre as más condutas acadêmicas mais comuns estão a "cola" e o plágio, presentes nos mais diversos níveis de ensino, da educação básica à educação superior.
Abstract This integrative review reflects on plagiarism and fraud in Brazilian studies based on scientific production and academic attitude. Literature search of articles published between January 2009 and June 2019 was conducted in the DOAJ, LILACS, PubMed, SciELO and Web of Science databases, using the exact descriptors "Plagiarism," "Scientific Misconduct," "Fraud" and "Brazil." The rapid expansion of the internet and technological development lead to increased cases of misconduct in scientific production, occurring, for example, tampering, fabrication or reuse of data, multiple submissions, conflicts of authorship and interests, salami publication (salami slicing) and plagiarism. Among the most common academic misconducts are the copying and plagiarism, present at all education levels, whether in primary or tertiary education.
Resumen Este estudio promueve una reflexión sobre el plagio y el fraude en estudios brasileños basados en la producción científica y la postura académica a través de una revisión integradora de artículos publicados entre enero de 2009 y junio de 2019. Se realizó una búsqueda en las bases de datos DOAJ, LILACS, PubMed, SciELO y Web. of Science, utilizando los descriptores exactos "Plagio", "Mala conducta científica", "Fraude" y "Brasil". Con la rápida expansión de Internet y el desarrollo tecnológico, han aumentado los casos de mala conducta en la producción científica, ocurriendo, por ejemplo, adulteración, invención o reutilización de datos, múltiples presentaciones, conflictos de autoría e intereses, publicación "salami" (fraccional) y plagio. Entre las faltas académicas más comunes se encuentran el "pegamento" y el plagio, presentes en los más diversos estratos, ya sea en la Educación Básica o en la Educación Superior.