Chapter 8 Research Misconduct Per Fors Luimar Correa

Chapter 8: Research Misconduct Per Fors Luimar Correa Filho Zhen Qiu Fengzhen Sun

1 RESEARCH MISCONDUCT

Narrow sense theft of others’ ideas and data plagiarism of other people’s texts defamation of colleagues manipulation (or falsification) of data Wide sense other forms of reprehensible behavior exaggeration of one’s qualifications in applications sabotage of colleagues’ work sexual harassment publication of the same study in multiple contexts

SUMMARY o Fabrication & falsification o Plagiarism & self-plagiarism o Establishing & preventing plagiarism o Addressing questions of misconduct

2 THE ETHICAL DILEMMA

You and another Ph. D student at your department is often discussing research and send each other unfinished papers research. One day, you find out that your colleague has used many of your data in a paper without citing or inviting you to co-write the paper with his. When you confront your colleague, he argues that the ideas are his alone. What can you do?

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS plagiarism Plagiarism in research entails a researcher using material (texts, ideas, hypotheses, “designs”, methods, data, results or conclusions) consciously or through carelessness in such a way that it presents a misleading picture of the researcher’s contribution to the project at hand.

OPTION 1: Do nothing Pros • Keep friendship/collaboration Cons • Sacrifice/Damage of your research project • Low outcome perhaps leading to failure in following research funding applications • Risk of repeated misconduct behavior

OPTION 2: Communicate with this person privately Cons • Cannot compensate your loss • Unable to realize this bad behavior profoundly Pros • Keep your friendship/collaboration • Let him realize his behavior is a kind of research misconduct • Keep his research reputation.

OPTION 3: Talk to supervisors Cons • Still cannot get any compensation from this behavior • let his supervisor doubt his research at titude and responsibility Pros • Protection of both sides’ reputation • Avoid of this bad behavior repeated in some extents if the Ph. D student is educated • Let your own supervisor know your work • Help your supervisor choose cooperation carefully

OPTION 4: Report to the Journal Pros • Rescure your loss perhaps • Combat against this research misconduct Cons • Break your collaboration • Both of your reputation is at risk somehow • Probable leakage of the privacy, such as the private information of patient in medicine research • time consuming

Thanks for your attention!