TY - JOUR
T1 - Researchers on research integrity
T2 - a survey of European and American researchers
AU - Allum, Nick
AU - Reid, Abigail
AU - Bidoglia, Miriam
AU - Gaskell, George
AU - Aubert-Bonn, Noémie
AU - Buljan, Ivan
AU - Fuglsang, Simon
AU - Horbach, Serge
AU - Kavouras, Panagiotis
AU - Marušić, Ana
AU - Mejlgaard, Niels
AU - Pizzolato, Daniel
AU - Roje, Rea
AU - Tijdink, Joeri
AU - Veltri, Giuseppe
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Background: Reports of questionable or detrimental research practices (QRPs) call into question the reliability of scientific evidence and the trustworthiness of research. A critical component of the research ecosystem is the organization within which research takes place. We conducted a survey to explore the attitudes and beliefs of European and American researchers about the organisations in which they work, their own research practices and their attitudes towards research integrity and research integrity policies. Methods: We administered an online survey (International Research Integrity Survey (IRIS)) to 2,300 active researchers based in the US and 45,000 in Europe (including UK, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland). We employed a stratified probability sample of the authors of research articles published between 2016 and 2020 included in Clarivate’s http://www.webofscience.com Web of Science citation database. Coverage includes researchers in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and medical sciences, who hold at least a master’s level degree. Results: In comparison to researchers in the US, European researchers admit to more QRPs and are less confident in maintaining high research integrity (RI) standards. In the US and Europe, many researchers judge their organization to fall short of best RI practice. All researchers recognize the benefits of RI, reliable knowledge and the trust of colleagues and the public, and there is support for RI training particularly among Europeans. Conclusion: To create and maintain a culture of integrity in scientific research, a collective commitment from researchers, their institutions and funders is needed. Researchers rely on many channels of communication about research integrity and thus the involvement of many different participants in the research system is required to make improvements. Policies must be developed to reinforce best practice rather than being seen as an irrelevance to the real business of research.
AB - Background: Reports of questionable or detrimental research practices (QRPs) call into question the reliability of scientific evidence and the trustworthiness of research. A critical component of the research ecosystem is the organization within which research takes place. We conducted a survey to explore the attitudes and beliefs of European and American researchers about the organisations in which they work, their own research practices and their attitudes towards research integrity and research integrity policies. Methods: We administered an online survey (International Research Integrity Survey (IRIS)) to 2,300 active researchers based in the US and 45,000 in Europe (including UK, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland). We employed a stratified probability sample of the authors of research articles published between 2016 and 2020 included in Clarivate’s http://www.webofscience.com Web of Science citation database. Coverage includes researchers in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and medical sciences, who hold at least a master’s level degree. Results: In comparison to researchers in the US, European researchers admit to more QRPs and are less confident in maintaining high research integrity (RI) standards. In the US and Europe, many researchers judge their organization to fall short of best RI practice. All researchers recognize the benefits of RI, reliable knowledge and the trust of colleagues and the public, and there is support for RI training particularly among Europeans. Conclusion: To create and maintain a culture of integrity in scientific research, a collective commitment from researchers, their institutions and funders is needed. Researchers rely on many channels of communication about research integrity and thus the involvement of many different participants in the research system is required to make improvements. Policies must be developed to reinforce best practice rather than being seen as an irrelevance to the real business of research.
KW - meta-research
KW - questionable research practices
KW - research integrity
KW - survey
KW - Reproducibility of Results
KW - Attitude
KW - Humans
KW - Europe
KW - Research
KW - Switzerland
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85152920320&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.12688/f1000research.128733.1
DO - 10.12688/f1000research.128733.1
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 37455853
AN - SCOPUS:85152920320
SN - 2046-1402
VL - 12
JO - F1000Research
JF - F1000Research
M1 - 187
ER -