An Alternative Dimension towards Integrity: A Perception of University Researchers

Abstract

Enormous issues on research integrity have been widely discussed amongst the academicians and the research institutes all over the world. Likewise, understanding and discussions on different aspects of academic misconducts have increased significantly in the past decade. Yet, cases on research misconducts continue to increase in the world of academia. Additionally, a noticeable gap in the literature is evident, whereby little research has sought to address research misconducts among researchers in Malaysia and the existence of policies on research misconducts among universities are not well documented or governed. In considering the integrity in research among the researchers, the authors examine the extent to which they perceive research integrity through research misconducts (i.e. plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, misuse of research fund). The authors further address on the influence of different generations and gender of researchers towards integrity. A cross-sectional survey of 600 questionnaires was used and only 159 returned questionnaires were analyzed. The use of parametric test reveals that majority of respondents agreed research misconducts were not tolerable. The study also confirms that generations and gender differences influence the researchers’ perceptions towards integrity. The study concludes that Malaysia's academic communities require strong and sound guidelines for responsible practice in research and dealing with research misconducts specifically.