week 6

• Research Misconducts


  • Fabrication
  • Falsification of Data
  • Duplicate Publication
  • Slicing
  • Desk Research
• Scientific deception


  Violations of integrity and unethical behaviors in science
• Scientific deception is any attempt which decreases the worth and reliability of a scientific research
• External reasons for unethical behaviors/actions

  • Publication pressure
  • Competition
  • Insufficient control of research activities
  • Bad examples of some experienced researchers
• Internal reasons for unethical behaviors/actions

  • Desire to increase personal earnings
  • Arrogance
  • Psychological disorders
• Fabrication


  Making up results and recording them as if they were real
• Forgery/Falsification


  Research is done, but the data is changed according to the desired purpose
• Difference between forgery/falsification and fabrication


  In forgery, research is done but data is changed. In fabrication, non-existent data and results are presented.
• Forgery and fabrication can be conducted at any stage of research
• Examples of unethical behaviors regarding forgery/fabrication


  • Showing a more advanced device instead of the used actual measurement tool
  • Performing a laboratory application in a shorter time than necessary
  • Changing or deleting records and data
• To increase the reliability of performed research, it is recommended to record notes daily, write notebooks by hand, and not take notebooks out of the laboratory
• Falsification


  Showing data purposely different in research tools, devices, records, materials and similar processes
• Cooking


  The data selection that fits to the hypotheses by ignoring others
• Trimming


  Correcting data & results to make them appear accurate and significant
• Biased Publication


  A relationship of interest between the institution providing financial support and the research group
• Unethical behaviors regarding cooking/trimming/publication bias

  • Changing the results of the participants based on their gender, religion, language, race, nation, age, physical or mental disabilities for the wishes of the researcher
  • Using literature that supports the same or similar results confirming the research hypothesis / Listing the publications which support the hypothesis while interpreting the research results
  • Confirming the assumptions of the used theory in the research, removing of data not fitting the theory and emphasizing the fitting ones
• Duplication


  Sending the results or some parts of the same research to more than one journal for publication or having them published
• Duplication has two main ethical drawbacks: wasting the time of journals, reviewers and editors, and being disrespectful to the reader, other researchers and science
• Self-replication is also a type of "duplication"
• To prevent duplication, journal editors demand a "written confirmation" from authors undertaking that the submitted article will not be published elsewhere
• Other unethical behaviors regarding duplication

  • Resubmitting a previously presented thesis without stating the submission date
  • Hiding the first publication status that was accepted for publication for the second time
  • Publishing a research in another language without informing the editor which is already present in a foreign language
• Slicing/Salami Science/Least Publishable Units


  Unnecessarily changing/dividing of a research and publishing it in many journals
• Dividing and publishing research just to increase the publication number is an unethical behavior
• Unethical behaviors regarding slicing/salami science/least publishable units

  • Dividing and publishing research results distorting their integrity
  • Publishing a thesis in many different parts without informing the advisor/the journal editor
  • Using obtained findings from a research in other proceedings, articles and posters on similar topics
  • Using a performed research in the form of national and international papers, book chapters or books
• Dry Labbing/Desk Research


  Publishing of data not collected/not applied by pretending to have processes & operations
• When it is revealed that the research does not comply with ethical codes, a "retraction" letter is published in the journal and announced to the readers
• Characteristics of predatory journals

  • Very low "impact factor" and most are not included in the "SCI-Science Citation Index"
  • Accepting articles quickly with little or no peer review or quality control
  • Notifying academics of article fees only after papers are accepted
  • Aggressively campaigning for academics to submit articles or serve on editorial boards
  • Listing academics as members of editorial boards without their permission
  • Appointing fake academics to editorial boards
  • Mimicking the name or web site style of more established journals
  • Citing fake or non-existent impact factors
  • Favoritism and self-promotion in peer review