Preventing research misconduct
As mentioned in the introduction of our Amsterdam UMC Code, the basic premises of research integrity are honesty, carefulness, transparency, independence and responsibility (see VSNU Code of Conduct for Research Integrity). Although research misconduct can never be ruled out, it is important to take preventive measures and create a culture that both stimulates research integrity and minimizes the risk of research misconduct. Many preventive measures are presented in earlier chapters of the Research Code.
Institutions have the duty to provide a working environment that promotes and safeguards good research practices. These duties of care include:
- training and supervision;
- fostering a research culture promoting integrity;
- proper data management;
- stimulating fair communication and dissemination of research;
- establishing and safeguarding ethical norms and procedures.
These duties are defined in Chapter 4 of the VSNU Code of Conduct for Research Integrity. Here we focus on activities at the level of the individual and his/her working environment. Moreover, specific attention is paid to the prevention of plagiarism.
The individual researcher
Responsibility
Each researcher should be aware of the high standards required for performing scientific research and know the VSNU Code of Conduct for Research Integrity. Individual researchers are ultimately responsible and accountable for their own behavior as scientists (see also KNAW advisory report, Responsible research data management and the prevention of scientific misconduct, 2012). A researcher should keep in mind that all of his/her actions should be open to scrutiny and discussion. In fact, as soon as you feel inclined to conceal certain aspects of your work, you should ask yourself why and discuss the issue with your supervisor or colleagues. If you don’t feel safe to do so, you may contact the confidential counsellors focusing on research integrity (see section Confidential counsellors, below).
Transparency
Precise documentation of data, research progress and decisions is crucial to ensure that the work can be understood, verified and reproduced by others. Data and lab notebooks are the institution’s property and should therefore be stored in a safe and transparent manner in accordance with the regulations described in this Code (see also Chapter Dealing with laboratory animals, Chapter Dealing with human subjects, and Chapter Research data management). Research supervisors should make sure that everyone involved in a research project is aware of the importance of collecting and storing data according to protocol.
Open discussion
Research is not an isolated activity: it is always important to seek feedback from and collaborate with other researchers. This allows any doubts to be resolved and questionable conduct to be prevented more easily. Discuss dilemmas with peers and supervisors: the ultimate aim is not winning a competition but contributing to the progress of reliable science (see also Chapter Expectations regarding supervisors and early-career researchers).
The department or research group
A culture in which the importance of research integrity is evident and explicitly discussed will foster the right mind set and minimize the risk of research misconduct. Heads of departments, research group leaders, supervisors and senior researchers in general are responsible for creating a culture where good science flourishes. According to the VSNU Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, two prerequisites are: a safe environment for open discussion and continuous attention to good research practices.
- Raise awareness of research integrity through education and training of early-career researchers, support staff and team leaders.
- Ensure that relevant scientific regulations, guidelines and instructions are understood and followed.
- Implement appropriate measures to prevent non-adherence to standards. The quality of supervision and the composition of doctoral examination committees is important in this regard. Regular audits of studies conducted within a research group may help to prevent errors, questionable research practices (QRPs) and research misconduct.
- Encourage collaboration among researchers by organizing project teams to perform the research. The team should work as a unit to decide how data will be collected, assessed and interpreted, and how results will be reported. Regular checks of one another’s work reduce the risk of errors and fraud, as isolated individuals may be more prone to research misconduct. This also applies to reporting: proper supervision and feedback prevent plagiarism and various forms of data manipulation.
- Organize regular reporting and discussion sessions within the research group and, where applicable, with external experts. Research projects conducted by larger research groups and consortia have a steering committee in addition to the project team. Again, the risk of errors and fraud is reduced if the progress of the project is presented to, and discussed with, the steering committee regularly.
- Create a safe environment where scientists feel free to discuss dilemmas and possible errors, without fearing negative reactions or sanctions. More early-career researchers, in particular, may need encouragement to ask questions or express their doubts and concerns.
Preventing plagiarism
Researchers are constantly building on the work of predecessors. Along with the more general preventive measures for research groups and individual researchers described above, avoiding plagiarism warrants specific attention. Giving credit to the use made of other people’s ideas, methods, results or texts is necessary in terms of integrity and honesty. Authors risk being guilty of plagiarism if they neglect to provide proper references.
- Provide references when a theory, methods, results or text are taken from elsewhere.
- References should be presented accurately. Different instructions are given in different fields of science (for examples, see APA and Vancouver referencing guides).
- Refer to the article or book in which the theory or other text was first published. Mistakes are often made when referring to secondary references. Authors are expected to know all references they use. However, citing review articles is acceptable.
- Indicate clearly in the text when you are quoting literally and where each quote begins and ends.
- Quotes from one’s own previously published text, should also be referenced and put between quotation marks. Note that extensive citing of one’s own text may be seen as undesirable and ‘self plagiarism’. Too many, possibly unnecessary, references can make a text unreadable, and including large numbers of self-citations to increase one’s citation ranking is particularly annoying.