RSS 1.0Research ethics
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Research integrity: learning from collective action in NepalEarly career researchers in developing countries like Nepal have faced many barriers while learning and practicing research integrity. Having easy access to appropriate resources for learning research integrity is essential to ensure academic integrity in higher education in Nepal and promote responsible research practices. This paper presents an approach to collective learning that will help stakeholders initiate learning and foster research integrity at their own level. Methodologically, the learning interventions were conducted in four phases: preparation, planning, implementation, and learning. Throughout the process of each phase, social exchange theory and collaboration in social learning were considered as new literacy models to promote research integrity knowledge. The interpretation of experiential learning interventions led to the development of the 4Co collective learning model. This model is contextually applicable for gaining deeper knowledge and skills and new networks of research integrity. With the purposes of awareness and development, this article is divided into two sections: the first part explores the actions taken and the second explores experiential learning that provides insights about the 4Co collective learning model.
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Academic Integrity in the Context of European Experience and Ukrainian PracticeThe article analyses the experience of European countries in counteraction to academic dishonesty and plagiarism, as well as the attitude of Ukrainian students to the problem. The specific examples of the counteraction against academic fraud in universities abroad have been studied, in particular, in the United Kingdom at the University College London, in Sweden at the Karolinska Medical University, and in higher education institutions in Poland. The article examines the attitude of Ukrainian students to various issues of academic integrity by questionnaires for its development in higher education institutions to prevent plagiarism in Master's theses. The purpose of the research is to study the European experience in counteraction to the manifestations of academic dishonesty and plagiarism among students to apply the experience in Ukrainian higher education institutions. Methodology. A survey among Master's students in H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University was conducted, which revealed the level of students’ knowledge about such concepts as academic integrity, plagiarism, as well as its types and reasons that motivate students to academic dishonesty and plagiarism. Results. The results of the survey show that, unfortunately, most students do not consider plagiarism a fraud. According to them, posting a text on the Internet makes it common and accessible to all, “nobody's”, and academic dishonesty and plagiarism in the student environment by majority of students is still perceived as the norm. Conclusions. To develop the academic integrity for Ukrainian students, it is necessary to implement a set of various measures. Promoting academic integrity and counteraction to plagiarism should take place at the level of the national ministry, higher education institutions, University faculties, departments, teaching staff, and the students themselves. Such work must be systematic, have a strategy, technology, ways of implementation at all levels of the scientific and educational process. It is expedient to conduct mass, explanatory, preventive work in each university, instill in Ukrainian students the principles of academic integrity, conduct special lessons to prevent plagiarism, work with common electronic programs of text self-checking, and teach training modules.
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Undergraduate engagement in permitted and unpermitted collaboration on homeworkAcademic dishonesty has existed as long as higher education, and there is an extensive record of research on it. Through that, we know that the most significant increase in cheating since the mid-1960s has been in undergraduate students’ participation in unpermitted collaboration on homework, the most common method of academic dishonesty, form of academic dishonesty for students to believe is trivial or not cheating, and type of academic dishonesty for students and faculty members to disagree about its severity. This increase mirrors the growing use of collaborative learning techniques in K-16 schools. The purpose of this research was to investigate this collision of higher education’s traditional ways of addressing academic dishonesty with students’ widespread use of collaborative learning techniques. The research questions were: 1) How do undergraduates describe their experiences with collaboration with classmates on homework assignments? 2) How do undergraduates describe their experiences with unpermitted collaboration with classmates on homework assignments? and 3) How do undergraduates describe the situations that influence their engagement in unpermitted collaboration on homework assignments? The goals were accomplished through a phenomenological approach, or learning about students’ participation in collaborative learning on homework assignments as well as the contexts within which it can become cheating. The researcher gathered students’ stories of permitted and unpermitted collaboration on homework which could be described by social interdependence theory, or the construct on which collaborative learning techniques are built. Several frameworks that describe the students’ behaviors were identified, and the stories of permitted and unpermitted collaboration were compared through the lens of moral development and goal orientation theories. The researcher found that students engage in unpermitted collaboration for learning. In addition, students make purposeful decisions about cheating, and it can be due to a desire to learn. Also, students’ collaborative teams can be complex. In addition, students believe that faculty members want them to learn and faculty members are an important source of information for students. The researcher found that neither moral development theory nor goal orientation theory explain students’ participation in unpermitted collaboration on homework. Based on these findings, recommendations for practice and research are provided.
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Contours of a research ethics and integrity perspective on open scienceThis article argues that adopting a research ethics and integrity perspective could support researchers in operationalizing the open science guiding principle “as open as possible, as closed as necessary” in a responsible and context-sensitive manner. To that end, the article points out why the guiding principle as such provides only a limited extent of action-guidance and outlines the practical value of ethical reflection when it comes to translating open science into responsible research practice. The article illustrates how research ethics and integrity considerations may help researchers understand the ethical rationale underpinning open science as well as recognize that limiting openness is necessary or at least normatively permissible in some situations. Finally, the article briefly discusses possible consequences of integrating open science into a responsibility-centered framework and implications on research assessment.
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Artificial Intelligence: Current Challenges and Future PerspectivesArtificial intelligence is a discipline of computer science that gives machines intelligence that resembles that of humans and empowers them to acquire knowledge, evaluate, and handle issues when exposed to information in different formats. AI is now useful as a powerful tool to help researchers collect, deal with, and analyze large sets of data in a fast and cost-effective way; additionally, a statistical collection and analysis of a vast amount of dataset of enormous numbers of published research articles will be with a high level of accuracy. However, Artificial intelligence has many struggles, conflicts, and challenges that need to be discussed and clarified.
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Analyses of the Rationale and Implementation of Research Biopsies in Oncology Clinical Trials at a Tertiary Cancer CenterBackground: Biomarkers in clinical trials have led to massive incorporation of research biopsies, with potentially risks and no direct benefit for patients. In 2018, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) released an ethical framework to provide guidance on incorporating research biopsies in cancer clinical trials. Materials and Methods: We collected biopsy requirements of cancer clinical trials conducted at Institut Jules Bordet (IJB) between 2015 and 2019 to examine adherence with the ASCO Ethical Framework. We used logistic regression models to test the association between the request for biopsy, the request for tissue, and the adherence to the ASCO framework as well as some trial characteristics. Results: Between January 2015 and December 2019, 178 oncological studies were conducted at IJB. Of these, 138 (78%) were sponsored by industry, 132 (74%) were phase II and III studies, and 141 (79%) concerned metastatic disease. Tissue was required for inclusion for 119 (67%) studies, among which 59 required at least one new biopsy. Adherence to ASCO's Ethical Framework was 67% for studies requiring tissue and went down to 39% for studies requiring at least one new biopsy. In multivariate analysis, requests for tissue or new biopsies increased in early-phase studies (p <.001, p <.001, respectively) and in studies investigating innovative treatments (immunotherapy or targeted therapies; p <.01, p =.02). Compliance to the ASCO framework significantly decreased with time (p <.001) and in early-phase studies (p <.001). Conclusion: Numerous studies required tissue or new biopsies for exploratory objectives of unknown clinical utility. Requests for tissue increased over the years, whereas compliance to ASCO's Ethical Framework decreased. Implications for Practice: In 2019, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) developed an ethical framework to provide guidance on incorporating research biopsies in clinical trials. This study underlines the growing request for tissue in clinical trials with potentially no impact on drug development and no benefit to actual or future patients. Adherence to ASCO's Ethical Framework decreases through time. These results highlight the importance of improving the ethics of research biopsies. ASCO's Ethical Framework offers an opportunity to improve quality of care in clinical research by maximizing scientific utility and allowing for clinically meaningful correlative science and safe access to innovative treatments for a maximum number of patients.
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Final version of the ETHNA System GuideThis deliverable includes the finalised version of the ETHNA System Concept, a guide that was used for the implementation of the system by the 6 organisations involved in the living lab experiment. The current version was updated based on the findings gained during the implementation phase developed all along 2022 by all 6 organisations, as well as during the evaluation of the inception of the ETHNA System project and its implementation. This deliverable serves as a guide to the ethical governance of RRI in research and innovation performing organisations (RPOs) and research funding organisations (RFOs). The guide includes relevant information concerning the nature of the ETHNA System, the method of embracing and implementing its potential set of guidance tools (ethics committee, code of ethics and best practices, ethics hotline and indicators, coupled with a supporting structure built upon an RRI office(r)), as well as a toolbox with ‘ready-to-use’ examples that may be of help to organisations to develop, implement and maintain the ETHNA System in some stages of the process. This guide also provides useful advice on some aspects that need to be taken into consideration prior to starting the process of adopting an ethics governance system for RRI. The advice is useful for RPO’s as much as for RFO’s, as it is based not only on scientific evidence but also on practical experience.
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“Unusual Care”: Groupthink and Willful Blindness in the SUPPORT StudyThe SUPPORT study of extremely premature newborns seems likely to go down as one of the most controversial studies of the 21st century (SUPPORT Study Group Citation2010). We previously suggested that the researchers in SUPPORT were “legally blind” in failing to understand that the “standard” that defines the content of informed consent is set by law, including the federal regulations, not by what physicians “usually” do or don’t do (Annas and Annas Citation2013). Macklin and Natanson, also early critics of the SUPPORT study’s failure to disclose the increased risk of death posed by the study, (Macklin et al. Citation2013) attack the study’s methodology itself in this issue, arguing that even on its own terms SUPPORT was fatally flawed (Macklin and Natanson Citation2020). Specifically, they argue that one arm of the study (the low oxygen arm) was not followed anywhere and could not be reasonably considered “standard care,” but was rather “unusual” and therefore experimental care (Cortes-Puch et al. Citation2016; Macklin and Natanson Citation2020). They also make useful suggestions about how to prevent future mischaracterizations of “usual care.”
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Quality of Education and Academic Integrity: the Essence of Concepts and Practical Implementation in the Educational Space of UkraineReforming the education system and bringing it in line with leading European practices necessitates the revision of the approaches of educational institutions to ensure the quality of the educational environment, the provision of educational services and more. In the presented research, the authors focus on the critical analysis of the real state of affairs and conceptual-procedural aspects of the implementation of measures aimed at improving the quality of education and introduction of norms of academic integrity into the practice of functioning of educational institutions in Ukraine. Thus, the article reveals and analyzes the content of the main laws and regulations, the rules of which determine the mechanisms for ensuring the quality of education and academic integrity. It has been proved that academic integrity is not only an integral part, but also a criterion for assessing the quality of education. The authors pay attention to the ways of improving the quality of education in the institutions of general secondary, vocational and higher education. As educational institutions must implement the mechanisms to ensure the quality of education and compliance with the standards of academic integrity proposed by legislators, the authors conducted the research to determine the level of effectiveness of their implementation. Within the conducted research, we clarified the problematic issues regarding the compliance of the level of education quality in Ukraine with the leading countries of Europe and the world; assessment of the internal education quality assurance system in the particular institution of higher education; the level of mastery in criteria content, rules and procedures for evaluating students, the activities of pedagogical (academic and pedagogical) employees, managerial activities of managers of educational institutions; the level of mastery in the system and mechanisms aimed at ensuring academic integrity in educational institutions; personal level of compliance with the requirements of academic integrity; places of violations of academic integrity in the own professional activities alongside bringing to academic responsibility persons who violated the norms of academic integrity; the level of participation of the authority of an educational institution in the processes of improving the education quality. Based on the conducted research, it is proved that the system of ensuring the education quality, in particular compliance with the norms of academic integrity in educational institutions of Ukraine, today is not perfect and needs to be brought into line with modern requirements.
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Plagiarism Awareness Among Post-Graduate Students and Research Scholars of the Jawaharlal Nehru University and University of Delhi, Delhi: A Comparative StudyThe paper overtly and comprehensively presents the awareness of Plagiarism among Post Graduate Students and Research Scholars of two prominent universities viz. Jawaharlal Nehru University and University of Delhi, Delhi. The study employed the survey research methodology and a structured questionnaire was designed keeping in view the stated objectives and was distributed questionnaires among the users in each library and got a total of 296 responses from both library users. The findings of the study revealed that the level of awareness about plagiarism and related aspects among users of Jawaharlal Nehru University is very high in comparison to the University of Delhi. The findings tangibly reflects that 99% users of JNU and 97% of DU are well aware about plagiarism, 157(53.10%) users' of both universities admitted that less/no knowledge of using source properly is the main reason for plagiarism and lastly 109(24%) users' of JNU and 103(68%) of DU are also well aware about plagiarism detection software.
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Academic integrity in higher education: manifestations and motivation factorsThe article highlights the problems of ensuring academic integrity in higher education and the factors that determine them. The category "integrity" is considered not only in ethical and legal aspects, but also in an economic dimension. The peculiarities of such forms of dishonesty as plagiarism, methodological manipulation, abuse of self-citation and bias in further professional activities (using the profession of auditor as an example) are considered. It is substantiated that achieving the profitability of investments in national education to the level of foreign indicators requires the improvement of educational management and the introduction of a number of documents of an organizational and legal nature regarding incentives for conscientiousness. A comparative analysis of national and foreign experience in overcoming negative manifestations in university education is carried out. It is emphasized that the imperfection of the criteria system for determining the scientific rating affects to a large extent the violation of the integrity of universities’ academic staff. The productive role of the cooperation between the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance and foreign institutions in the implementation of European experience in ensuring academic integrity, adapted to Ukrainian socio-economic realities, is emphasized. The expediency of involving international organizations in monitoring the state of corruption within the Ukrainian education is substantiated. It is proposed to supplement the evaluation of the state of academic integrity of the HEIs in the process of educational and scientific work with the applicants by evaluating it by means of the criteria of conscientiousness and productivity of graduates’ professional activity. It is proved that the training of applicants must necessarily include the projection of ethical principles and principles of academic integrity in the future profession, taking into account special requirements of international standards and professional codes of ethics. It is emphasized that elevating integrity to the level of immanent value of educational and scientific society is a guarantee for competitiveness of graduates of Ukrainian universities on the European market of knowledge.
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Open science in Sámi research: Researchers' dilemmasThis article discusses the challenges of Indigenous research in relation to open science, more particularly in relation to Sámi research in Sweden. Based on interviews with active scholars in the multidisciplinary field of Sámi studies, and on policy documents by Sámi organizations, this article points at the challenges that can be identified, and the practices and strategies adopted or suggested by researchers. Topics addressed include ownership, control, sensitivity and accessibility of data, the consequences of experienced limitations, the role of the historical context, and community-groundedness. This article has the ambition to contribute with a discussion about the tensions between standards of data management/open science and data sovereignty in Indigenous contexts. This is done by bringing in perspectives from Indigenous methodologies (the 4 R) and by contextualizing research practices and forms of data colonialism in relation to our contemporary context of surveillance culture. Research—in relation to ethics and social sustainability—is an arena where tensions between various agendas becomes obvious. This is illustrated in this article by researchers' dilemmas when working with open science and the advancement of Indigenous research. Efforts toward ethically valid and cultural-sensitive modes of data use are taking shape in Indigenous research, calling for an increased awareness about the topic. In the context of Sámi research, the role of academia in such a transformation is also essential.
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Ethical rules in conducting and promoting research in social sciencesEthical rules in social science research have raised increasing concern, reflection and continued discussion in the research community. Research ethics consists of a core set of scientific norms, developed over time and institutionalised in the international research community. The purpose of this session was to highlight the fundamental norms of research ethics. It discussed the main actors that are responsible for ensuring compliance with research ethics, and used several case studies to illustrate different ethical challenges and possible options to solve them. A distinction between ethics and law was made, in order to clarify the legal basis for the investigation of scientific misconduct and for dealing with personal data particularly in qualitative social science research.
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Choose your AI: Artificial Intelligence / Academic IntegrityThere are different ways to promote academic integrity with concrete recommendations. Teachers can with their expertise and intuition elaborate discussions with their students on the outlines of academic integrity. By raising their critical thinking and by introducing them in the field, the teachers act as facilitators and contribute to empower their students. This presentation is the result of a cooperation with Dalarna University.
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Significado de la ética profesional: el caso de estudiantes de ciencias empresarialesAbstract: This qualitative research aims to present the significance and experiences that economics and business students report to have acquired in professional ethics classes at the university level. Professional ethics, by nature, is both theoretical and practical, which means that the theory that students learn must be applied to real situations. In this sense, what students learn serves as a paradigm for action. Among the most significant findings herein was that students value the ethical training offered by the university as a complement to their technical training, however, they consider innovative strategies in teaching fundamental to their classroom experience. Students share that the significance they acquire about ethics ranges from the personal to the professional and the social, highlighting the eminently relational nature of this subject.
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La integridad científica en las instituciones de educación superior en el siglo XXIThe first part of the work analyses the results of the study carried out within the framework of the Thematic Group on Scientific Integrity of the League of Research Universities (LERU), in order to know the state of the question on codes of conduct and good practices in research. The aim is to provide a series of conclusions and recommendations to influence the design and development of policies and initiatives on sci - entific integrity in European higher education universities. The second part focuses on the analysis of recent interventions in the regulation of scientific integrity by the University of Barcelona. This case study makes it possible to suggest a series of recommendations for higher education institutions to face the challenges of the 21st century, particularly on those issues that should form part of codes of ethics and good scientific practice.
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Guia de pesquisa para médicos residentesA obrigatoriedade de realização de um trabalho de conclusão ao final da residência médica é recente, formalizada e padronizada pela Comissão Nacional de Residência Médica, que desde 2018 vem publicando resoluções que definem as matrizes de capacitação de cada Programa de Residência Médica. A variabilidade na formação dos residentes médicos somada ao fato de nem todos terem um conhecimento prévio na realização de pesquisas, tornam fundamental o desenvolvimento de um material de apoio institucional sobre pesquisas para os residentes elaborarem seus TCRs com um nível de qualidade e um padrão adequado. Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo geral a confecção de um Guia de Pesquisa para Médicos Residentes. Será realizada em cinco etapas, que foram definidas tendo como referências materiais sobre elaboração de manuais e guias: Etapa 1 – Seleção e definição dos conteúdos; Etapa 2 - Confecção do Guia de Pesquisa para Médicos Residentes; Etapa 3 – Qualificação do Guia por um painel de supervisores de Programas de Residência Médica; Etapa 4 - Análise dos questionários de avaliação e finalização do Guia; Etapa 5 - Distribuição e acesso. O produto elaborado é um Guia de Pesquisa para Médicos Residentes, buscando atender uma emergente demanda. O Guia visa colaborar de forma clara e objetiva na adequação dos trabalhos de conclusão desenvolvidos pelos médicos residentes do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), tendo enfoque nos tipos de TCRs permitidos pelas Diretrizes para a elaboração dos Trabalhos de Conclusão da Residência Médica, e subsidiar residentes e orientadores no que diz respeito à: definição, elaboração, submissão, execução e encerramento do projeto. A pesquisa teve início após a aprovação do CEP, com término previsto em março de 2023. Os custos do projeto são de responsabilidade dos pesquisadores.
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Evaluating the Impacts of a Research Ethics Training Course on University ResearchersTraining in research ethics is an essential part of professional development for graduate students and academic and research staff at universities and other research institutions. Certificated training in research ethics has been offered at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, since 2019. This training comprises a 4 h content-based workshop followed by a written assignment with attendees who are mainly graduate students and academic staff of the University. This study presents the results of an anonymous online survey that evaluated the impacts of the ethics training on researcher professional activities, in particular where their research deals with human participants. Those invited to take part in the survey were the successful attendees who had attained a Certificate of Competence in Research Ethics. Results (n = 92) showed that the majority of respondents were satisfied with the nature, format and depth of content of the training, and reported that it has a positive impact on their development as researchers. Specifically, this included thinking through their project design, and developing critical thinking and problem solving skills related to their project. Overall, the results highlight the importance of research ethics training in researcher development, as well as engendering critical reflection on ethical issues in different research contexts. It also shows the importance of ethics training in a ‘live’ session where participants are able to ask questions, engage in debate, and undertake a written assessment that tests their application of ethics concepts.