Abstract
Education of young researchers has been proposed as a way to promote research integrity. However, the effectiveness of research integrity education on PhD students is unknown. In a longitudinal design, we surveyed over 1000 starting PhD students from various disciplines regarding knowledge, attitude and behaviour before, immediately after and 3 months after a compulsory 3-h course given by a panel of experts. Compared with a control group who did not follow the course, the course recipients showed significant (multivariate analysis) but modest improvements in knowledge and attitude scores immediately after the course, but not after 3 months; a prolonged impact was apparent regarding behaviour. Moreover, the course spurred 93% of PhD students to have conversations about research integrity and 79% declared applying the content of the course. Among other interventions, formal education in research integrity may contribute to foster a climate of research integrity in academia.
Highlights
In 2005, a notorious Nature article titled “Scientists behaving badly” revealed that scientists admitted to a wide range of activities that compromise the integrity of science (Martinson et al 2005)
The total number of PhD students present during the courses were based on the number of participants scanning in with their KU Leuven badge upon entry and exit of the lecture hall
Of the 1044 PhD students who participated in the study by returning completed questionnaires, 5 participants returned only the post-test
Summary
In 2005, a notorious Nature article titled “Scientists behaving badly” revealed that scientists admitted to a wide range of activities that compromise the integrity of science (Martinson et al 2005). This sobering discovery and other evidence have led various institutions to take a range of initiatives, such as developing codes of conduct for responsible research and organising educational activities to promote research integrity (Fanelli, 2009; Mejlgaard et al 2020). The same course is organised four times a year in lecture halls with 200–400 first-year PhD students from all disciplinary fields of the university
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