Abstract
BackgroundResearch misconduct is a global concern in biomedical science. There are no comprehensive data regarding the perception and situation of scientific misconduct among the Iranian medical faculty members. We conducted a nationwide survey to assess the research misconduct among the medical faculty members in Iran.MethodsWe used the Persian version of the research misconduct questionnaire (PRMQ) on the Google Forms platform. We sent the survey link to a systematic random sample of medical faculty members in Iran (N = 4986). Descriptive analyses were performed on the individual items of the PRMQ, with frequencies and percentages for categorical and Likert-type response items, and means and standard deviation (S.D.) for continuous variables. Chi-square analysis was conducted to test hypotheses examining differences in the frequency of responses related to factors influencing misconduct. We also defined four tenure categories (TC) based on the working years of the participants as tenured faculty members. All the analyses were performed using R 3.6.0.ResultsThe response rate was 13.8% (692 responses). Nearly 70% of the respondents agreed that their publication output would be of higher quality if there were no publication pressure. Approximately three-quarters (N =499, 72.1%) of the respondents had been aware of some instances of research misconduct during the previous year according to their understanding of misconduct. Among the participants, 18.5% perceived the effectiveness of their associated organisation’s rules for reducing research misconduct to be high or very high. Pressure for tenure was identified as the item most frequently perceived with a strong behavioural influence on engaging in research misconduct (80.2%).ConclusionsThis study confirms that research misconduct needs to be actively addressed among the medical faculty members. Making policies with a focus on boosting awareness regarding the occasions of scientific misconduct and its management seems to be indispensable in the future in Iran.
Highlights
Research misconduct is a global concern in biomedical science
This study aimed to conduct a nationwide survey using the Persian version of the research misconduct questionnaire (PRMQ) among the faculty members of medical universities in Iran to evaluate their perceptions, beliefs, practices, and experiences related to scientific misconduct
Almost one-third (31.6%) of the respondents practised in clinical settings, and 80.4% of them mentioned having served as a chair or vice-chancellor in their research organisations
Summary
Research misconduct is a global concern in biomedical science. There are no comprehensive data regarding the perception and situation of scientific misconduct among the Iranian medical faculty members. The UK Research Integrity Office’s definition includes “a) fabrication, b) falsification, c) misrepresentation of data and/or interests and/or involvement; d) plagiarism; and e) failures to follow accepted procedures or to exercise due care in carrying out responsibilities for subjects and private information” [3]. While these definitions include the most severe unethical behaviours recognised as misconduct, others include misbehaviours such as conflict of interest and misuse of funds [4,5,6]. In Iran, the National Committee for Ethics in Biomedical Research defines research misconduct as “any violation of the requirements, regulations, guidances, guidelines, and codes to protect human participants in research, as approved by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) for designing, executing and reporting results of biomedical research, and abuse of intellectual property pertaining to practical and theoretical research findings of other parties” [10]
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