Steneck (2006) defines research integrity as the “quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering to high moral principles and professional standards, as outlined by professional organisations, research institutions and, when relevant, the government and public.” Futher, according to Hiney(2015), research integrity is at the very heart of research and is essential to the value of research in the society and society’s trust in research. Therefore, integrity in research is of great importance because it (research) has over the years intertwined with the society at large and it’s almost as if research owes or is obliged to have integrity for the sake of society.
However, in contrast to research integrity there is what we call scientific misconduct or fraud. Scientific misconduct implies 1. Falsification, Fabrication & Plagiarism. Sadly, scientific misconduct is not uncommon and it is increasing in this time of academic competition and publication stress. Scientific misconduct therefore undermines research integrity and is basically harmful to the public. For example, Andrew Wakefield’s false report that triple vaccine could cause autism, many parents decided not to vaccine their children, which later led to diseases and deaths. ( Colste, 2015).
All in all integrity in research is very important. Research must be truthful and honest because society puts their trust on research. Scientific misconduct ( falsification, fabrication and Plagiarism) can lead to false results which does not only harm the society but is a waste of funds and all that was put in that particular research project if I may put it that way.
REFLECTION
I personally agree with what Colste (2015) is saying that scientific misconduct is not uncommon in this time of academic competition and publication stress. As we are doing research as one of our modules we are mostly focused on the structure of what a research proposal should look like and the different types of methods or study types we can use. We don’t focus a lot on research integrity. I mean we know we are not supposed to plagiarize and that’s it. We don’t know anything about fabrication or falsification. We just have to think on our own that it’s wrong but that won’t necessarily stop us from doing it. Therefore,my recommendation is that research integrity not just Plagiarism but the whole concept should be part of research modules in institutions. Furthermore, consequences of scientific misconduct should be taught. So that we can make researchers with integrity in the future who do not fabricate, falsify or plagiarize. It’s easy to do all these just to meet the academic demands.
One thought on “Integrity in research”
Hi Kwakho
Interesting written piece on integrity in research but I have a few things that I picked up and some suggestions that may help you out:
When typing out any form of writing piece, it is important to keep in mind to just state one for example definition of a word as it may give the impression that you are not sure about your work and you are generally just guessing if you use two or more. Like for instance you said “Therefore, integrity in research is of great importance because it (research) has over the years intertwined with the society at large and it’s almost as if research ‘owes’ or is ‘obliged’ to have integrity for the sake of society.” Just choose one definition to avoid this.
It sounds like you saying that academic competition and publication stress are only factors that affect integrity in research in today’s time (second paragraph). If this was what you were saying, you may find it helpful to review, (Price, 2013) and (Steneck, 1999) to name a few journal articles who have stated that scientific misconduct has been an ongoing thing for quite some time, even in the 1970s.
Also, it might be a nice take to add anything that you and your research group have learnt during literature reviews and found to be examples of integrity in your research proposal for this year.
Good draft of your written task, hope the advice and comments are of good use to you.
REFERENCE:
Price, A. R. (2013). Research misconduct and its federal regulation: The origin and history of the office of research integrity-With personal views by ORI”s former associate director for investigative oversight. Accountability in research journal, 20(5-6): 291-319.
Steneck, N. H. (1999). Confronting misconduct in science in the 1980s and 1990s: What has and has not been accomplished? Springer Nature Switzerland, 5(2): 161-176.