Deliberate Fraud Research Articles

Enhancing Recognition in Multimodal Biometric Systems: Score Normalization and Fusion of Online Signatures and Fingerprints

Multimodal biometrics employs multiple modalities within a single system to address the limitations of unimodal systems, such as incomplete data acquisition or deliberate fraud, while enhancing recognition accuracy. This study explores score normalization and its impact on system performance. To fuse scores effectively, prior normalization is necessary, followed by a weighted sum fusion technique that aligns impostor and genuine scores within a common range. Experiments conducted on three biometric databases demonstrate the promising efficacy of the proposed approach, particularly when combined with Empirical Modal Decomposition (EMD). The fusion system exhibits strong performance, with the best outcome achieved by merging the online signature and fingerprint modalities, resulting in a normalized Min-Max score-based Equal Error Rate (EER) of 1.69%.

A study on the key drivers of national construction project audit risk and evolvement mechanism

PurposeChina has recently introduced a new audit law that aims to increase the scope of audit supervision and raise the standards for preventing risks in auditing national public projects. This paper presents a systematic research study on the causes of audit risks in national public projects and discusses the process by which these causes contribute to the emergence of such risks. Furthermore, the paper investigates the core risk sources in various types of national construction project audit. This paper aims to provide theoretical support for auditors of national construction projects in risk avoidance when conducting audits.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the authors carefully selected five national public audit projects from China and performed a comprehensive analysis of 85 relevant audit documentation. The textual analysis was conducted using Nvivo12 software, and the grounded theory approach was adopted for generalization purposes.FindingsBased on the research results, the findings suggest that there are five key causes contributing to the audit risk of national construction projects: professional competence, risk awareness, management capacity, level of attention and deliberate fraud. The most critical factor identified is management capability, with 59.93% of the data supporting this view. This conclusion was based on an analysis of state-owned enterprises, administrative organs and public institutions. Building upon this, a framework titled “the mechanism of audit risk factors with management capability as the core” was constructed.Originality/valueThis paper employs qualitative analysis methods to examine national construction projects in China, contributing new literature to the theoretical study of audit risk management. The article also provides practical recommendations for auditors on how to mitigate audit risks and improve the quality of audit services in national project governance.

Choosing the Best Design in Surgical Research.

Choosing the Best Design in Surgical Research.

Analysis on the phenomenon of the insurer 's abuse of the right to terminate and coping strategies

As an important prerequisite for the formulation and entry into force of insurance contracts, the principle of utmost good faith is a compulsory principle that both parties should abide by. Among them, the obligation to inform is the basic obligation of the insurer to evaluate whether the subject matter of insurance is insurable and whether the policyholder chooses to sign the contract. However, in recent years, legal litigation cases caused by the insured 's obligation to inform against the principle of utmost good faith have been common. Even if the moral hazard cases of the insured 's deliberate fraud are excluded, the number of legal disputes caused by negligence should not be underestimated. Based on the analysis of the typical cases, it is undeniable that there is a " double victim "[1] phenomenon that the insurer exercises the right of rescission due to the unclear provisions of the relevant documents. Therefore, this paper hopes to summarize some incomplete explanatory loopholes in legal documents from many cases, and put forward some suggestions for improving the above loopholes and judgment methods in combination with most cases [2], so as to provide reference opinions for reducing relevant litigation cases.

Enfeoffment to Use, Legalism, and Humanism in Gower's Mirour de l'Omme

Enfeoffment to Use, Legalism, and Humanism in Gower's <i>Mirour de l'Omme</i>

Comparison of Various Signal Processing Techniques and Spectral Regions for the Direct Determination of Syrup Adulterants in Honey Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Chemometrics

Honey consumption has become increasingly popular worldwide. However, the increase in demand for honey has also caused an increase in its adulteration, a deliberate fraud which involves adding of other substances to pure honey for economic purposes. This process not only lowers the quality of honey, but also has potential health risks, including high blood sugar, increased risk of diabetes, and weight gain. Herein, we develop an easy-to-use and direct method of quantifying corn, cane, beet, and rice syrup adulterants in honey using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics. Various signal processing techniques, including derivatives, moving average, binning, Savitzky–Golay, and standard normal variate using the entire spectral region (3996–650 cm−1) and specific spectral region (1501–799 cm−1), were compared. Optimum results were obtained using first derivative signal processing for both the entire and specific spectral regions. The first derivative signal processing technique garnered the most optimum results using the specific spectral range (1501–799 cm−1) (RMSECVaverage = 0.021, RMSEPaverage = 0.014, R2average = 0.859) across all syrup adulterants. An exploratory analysis to assess the utility of this specific spectral region in pattern recognition of samples based on their adulterant content show that this region is effective in discriminating samples according to the presence or absence of honey syrup adulterants.

PENGARUH SISTEM PENGENDALIAN INTERNAL, PERILAKU TIDAK ETIS DAN BUDAYA ORGANISASI TERHADAP KECENDRUNGAN KECURANGAN (FRAUD) PADA LEMBAGA PEKREDITAN DESA (LPD) SE-KECAMATAN SUSUT

Fraud is a deliberate fraud that causes losses to other parties and provides benefits to the perpetrator of the fraud and / or his group. This study aims to determine the effect of internal control systems, unethical behavior, and organizational culture on the (fraud) tendency to cheat. This research was conducted at the Village Credit Institution (LPD) in Susut District. The sample in this study were 167 LPD employees. The sampling method used is proposive sampling. The data analysis technique used in this research is descriptive statistics, validity test, reliability test, classical assumption test, multiple linear regression, coefficient of determination, F test, and t test. From the results of this study that the internal control system variable has no effect on the tendency of fraud. The variable of unethical behavior has a positive and significant effect on the (fraud) tendency to cheat. Organizational culture variables have a negative and significant effect on the (fraud) tendency to cheat.

Retraction Watch: A tool for informing academia about ethical violations in publications

Retraction is one of the ways to filter low-quality academic publications. Over the last decade, the number of retracted articles from journals has been steadily growing around the world. Information about such articles can be found both on the websites of the retracting journals and in the databases that index these journals. In 2010, two doctors from the United States, Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus, created an Internet resource – Retraction Watch (RW), which concentrates information obtained as a result of investigations of ethical misconduct leading to retraction of articles. These investigations are conducted by the RW founders themselves, as well as by volunteers. Currently, RW contains information on over 24,000 retractions. The main violations include serious errors in methodology and calculations that lead to incorrect conclusions, manipulation of figures and data, plagiarism and self-citation, duplication of publications, etc. In its posts, RW considers unintentional mistakes, as well as deliberate fraud in order to obtain a position, degree or other benefit. Retractions can result in the withdrawal of academic degrees, dismissal from work, demotion, loss of authority among colleagues. RW posts are released daily and a cumulative RW issue – at the end of each week. The owners of the resource, having no outside funding, offer to subscribe to a paid resource or provide sponsorship assistance to those interested in maintaining and developing it. However, the resource is publicly available, and everyone can subscribe to mailing lists for free. Recent issues have focused on non-peerreviewed articles about COVID-19 that report erroneous scientific findings with possible serious implications for important decisions. In addition, Retraction Watch accumulates information on academic ethics from other sources. This article aims to describe a variety of ethical violations leading to retraction of articles and the consequences of retractions based on RW data. The sample of posts was drawn mainly from the 2021 RW issues.

Factors Affecting Earnings Management of Islamic Banking Companies at the Indonesia Stock Exchange on Publication Year of 2013-2019

This research was conducted on Islamic banking listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2013-2019 using secondary data. A saturated data analysis is used in this research. The sample is all Sharia banking companies as many as 12 companies. The results show that Institutional Ownership, Managerial Ownership, Individual Ownership, Foreign Ownership, and the Board of Commissioners have an effect on Earnings Management. Meanwhile, State Ownership, Family Ownership, Public Ownership, Public Accountants, Audit Committee, and Board of Directors have no effect on Earnings Management. Simultaneously all independent variables have an effect on Earnings Management. Given their findings, the authors propose that the practical implication of this research is that earnings management does not occur much in Islamic banks listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange Earnings Management in the study of Islamic Business Ethics is in the form of deliberate fraud or fraud to achieve certain interests and its nature is not for the benefit of the people or society so it is not allowed because it will have an impact on the survival of the company. But interests that are in a precarious condition that endanger the interests of the public or the state, such as a pandemic outbreak, are allowed because the country is experiencing an economic downturn.

Академічна доброчесність всистемі освіти в галузі фізичної культури

The transition to distance learning as a result of quarantine measures in the field of higher education has intensified the negative trends in the use of dishonest learning methods by students. Objective: was to improve the quality of education of students of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports by improving the mechanism for the observance of academic integrity. Material &amp; Methods: analysis of normative documents, scientific works; Questionnaire of students of the Black Sea National University named after Petro Mohyla (n = 358) 1–4 courses studying at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports (specialty 017 «Physical Culture and Sports» (n = 200), 227 «Physical therapy, occupational therapy» (= 134), 091 «Biology» (n = 24). Conclusions: As a result of the survey, it was determined that the students of the Black Sea National University named after Peter Mohyla learn about the need of observance of academic integrity from teachers, curators, student government (52.4 %); from the Internet (17 %); from friends (12.35 %). The majority of respondents (62.9 %) stated that they had never used dishonest teaching methods and were unaware of such cases by their classmates. 16.7 % of respondents wrote off and used tips; 6.6 % of students did not refer to the sources properly. According to the majority of students (75.4 %), teachers prevent the manifestations of academic dishonesty: reduce scores for the task performed, forced to rework, or do not count points at all and do not allow to resubmit work. The results of a study by foreign scientists indicate that most of the manifestations of dishonesty include plagiarism, improper use of resources, deliberate and spontaneous fraud, deceiving teachers when passing online tests and exams. The results of studies by both domestic and foreign scientists indicate that from 40 % to 60 % of students resorted to academic impiety. Results: To reduce the negative consequences of manifestations of academic dishonesty in higher education in the process of training specialists in the field of sports, a number of measures have been proposed: formation of tasks for abstracts, creative and exploratory works, using modern trends in the theory and methodology of sports; an increase in the number of questions on exams, a decrease in the time spent on the online test (exam); an annual survey of students on the observance of academic integrity.

Breeding records of Dunlin Calidris alpina in China

Dunlin Calidris alpina has been recorded as breeding in China based on a pullus collected on 7 May 1927 at Tsingtao, Shandong province; a remarkably early date for a nearly fledged young. The record appears highly unlikely to be an example of deliberate fraud, and there is no obvious evidence of mislabelling. We have been unable to determine the validity of the claimed breeding record, however, based on a review of available information, it appears certain that the species does not currently breed in China.

Fraud in highly appreciated fish detected from DNA in Europe may undermine the Development Goal of sustainable fishing in Africa

Despite high effort for food traceability to ensure safe and sustainable consumption, mislabeling persists on seafood markets. Determining what drives deliberate fraud is necessary to improve food authenticity and sustainability. In this study, the relationship between consumer’s appreciation and fraudulent mislabeling was assessed through a combination of a survey on consumer’s preferences (N = 1608) and molecular tools applied to fish samples commercialized by European companies. We analyzed 401 samples of fish highly consumed in Europe and worldwide (i.e. tuna, hake, anchovy, and blue whiting) through PCR-amplification and sequencing of a suite of DNA markers. Results revealed low mislabeling rate (1.9%), with a higher mislabeling risk in non-recognizable products and significant mediation of fish price between consumer´s appreciation and mislabeling risk of a species. Furthermore, the use of endangered species (e.g. Thunnus thynnus), tuna juveniles for anchovy, and still not regulated Merluccius polli hake as substitutes, points towards illegal, unreported and/or unregulated fishing from African waters. These findings reveal a worrying intentional fraud that hampers the goal of sustainable seafood production and consumption, and suggest to prioritize control efforts on highly appreciated species.

An innovative non-targeted control system based on NIR spectral information for detecting non-compliant batches of sweet almonds

Nowadays, there is growing awareness about the need to develop new methodologies to fight against deliberate fraud. This study explored the use of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as an instantaneous, non-targeted method for detecting non-compliant products; in this case, when used to detect sweet almond batches adulterated with bitter almonds. For this purpose, we simulated the adulteration of batches by preparing four different types of mixed samples which contained 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of bitter almonds, respectively, using 90 samples of sweet almonds and 50 samples of bitter almonds. For each of the adulteration percentages, 21 samples were produced. The samples were analysed using the Aurora and the Matrix-F spectrophotometers. The procedure initially constructed the desired standard or target using only the spectral information provided by the sweet almond population (control population). To achieve this, after principal components analysis, the spectral warning and action limits were calculated using the n-dimensional statistic Mahalanobis global distance. Next, the spectral distances from the product standard defined for those samples not belonging to the control population, including the adulterated sweet almonds, were calculated and represented as Shewhart control charts. The implementation of NIRS technology throughout the almond supply chain enabled to identify 87% (73/84) of the adulterated sweet almond batches. These findings suggest that NIRS technology and the use of spectral distances could enable to establish an innovative, non-targeted control system based only on spectral information to assess almond batches. This system allows to carry out conformity tests both in situ and online of the batches of almonds received and processed in the industry, as well as establishing fast, cost-efficient anti-fraud alert systems, which would help to reduce the number of batches to be analysed by expensive and time-consuming confirmatory methods.

An Analysis on the Differences in Recognition of the Training Market Purification through Fraud Prevention Education of Technical and Vocational Education and Training

이 연구의 목적은 직업훈련 부정 예방교육을 통하여 훈련시장이 얼마나 정화되었는지 행정당국인 지방관서와 훈련을 실시하는 기관의 인식 수준과 차이를 분석하는 데 있다. 이를 위해 훈련시장 정화 인식에 관한 측정도구를 개발하고, 지방관서와 훈련기관 담당자의 유효 응답자료(각 70명, 227명)를 수집하여, 기술통계와 t-검정을 이용하여 분석하였다. 이 연구의 주요 결과는 첫째, 예방교육을 통한 전체적인 훈련시장 정화 인식도는 4.38로 매우 높았다. 하위요인별로 예방활동 실천(4.46), 부정훈련 이해도 및 경각심(4.41), 부정훈련 예방(4.36), 부정행위 감소(4.27) 순으로 모두 높았다. 둘째, 이해 관계자에 따라서 훈련기관을 관리하고 지도감독하는 고용센터는 예방교육을 통한 훈련시장 정화 인식도를 4.13(3.87~4.13)으로 응답한 반면, 고용센터의 행정관리를 받고 있는 훈련기관은 4.50(4.39~4.61)으로 훨씬 더 높게 인식하였다. 이는 부정훈련에 대한 지도감독 및 예방교육 등을 실시하는 행정주체인지, 그로부터 행정관리를 받고 있는 관리대상인지에 따라서 각 역할과 처한 입장에 따라서 훈련시장 정화 인식도의 수준 차이를 확인할 수 있을 것이다. 셋째, 훈련기관의 변화에 대한 질적 응답자료를 분석한 결과, 훈련시장 정화 인식도 구성요인과 동일하게 4가지 범주화와 고의적인 부정훈련 등 추가적인 범주화가 이루어졌다. 4가지 구성요인 중 3가지(부정훈련 이해도 및 경각심, 예방활동 실천, 부정훈련 예방)는 지방관서와 훈련기관의 동일한 관점을 확인할 수 있었으나, 나머지 1개 요인(부정훈련 감소)과 고의적인 부정훈련 등은 훈련기관의 기타의견 자료가 없어 고용센터의 응답자료 만으로 범주화가 이루어졌다. 이는 지방관서와 훈련기관이 인식하는 훈련시장 정화에 대해 3가지 요인은 동일한 관점으로 인식하고, 나머지 1개 요인과 추가적인 범주화 사항은 다르게 인식한다는 의미가 아니라, 각 기관의 역할과 입장에 따라서 훈련시장 정화의 범위와 정도를 다르게 설정하여 인식함에서 오는 차이로 해석할 수 있을 것이다.The purpose of this study is to analyze how much the training market has been purified through fraud prevention education of technical and vocational education and training and to analyze the level of perception and differences between local governments and training institutions. To this end, a measurement tool for recognition of the purification of the training market was developed, and effective response data (respectively 70 people and 227 people) from local authorities and training institutions were collected, and was analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test. The main results of this study were as follows. First, the overall recognition of purifying the training market through preventive education was very high at 4.38. By sub-factor, prevention activity practice (4.46), understanding and awareness of fraud training (4.41), prevention of fraud training (4.36), and decrease in fraud behavior (4.27) were all high in order. Second, the job center, which manages and supervises training institutions according to stakeholders, responded with 4.13 (3.87～4.13), while the training institutions under the administrative management of the job center answered 4.50 ( 4.39～4.61) was perceived much higher. Depending on whether it is an administrative subject that conducts supervision and prevention education for fraud training, and whether it is a management subject receiving administrative management from him, it will be possible to confirm the difference in the level of recognition of purification in the training market according to each role and position. Third, as a result of analyzing qualitative response data to changes in training institutions, the recognition of the training market purification was categorized in the same way as the constituent factors, and additional categorization such as deliberate fraud training was conducted. Three of the four components (understanding of unjust training and awareness of awareness, practice of preventive activities, prevention of unfair training) were able to confirm the same perspectives of local authorities and training institutions, but the remaining one factor (reducing fraud training) and deliberate fraud training were categorized only by the response data from the local authorities because there was no other opinion data from the training institutions. This does not mean that the three factors are perceived from the same perspective and the other one and the additional categorization are differently perceived by the local authorities and training institutions. It can be interpreted as the difference from recognition by setting the range and degree of training market purification differently according to the role and position of each institution.

Broke people, broken rules: Explaining welfare fraud investigators’ attributions

There is a notable contrast between welfare clients’ and welfare fraud investigators’ accounts of rule breaking behaviors. Clients describe some actions (or inactions) that constitute rule violations as accidental, and tend to attribute others to situational factors: program rules’ complexity, the exigencies of day-to-day subsistence, and time and energy limitations. Fraud investigators, on the other hand, are comparatively likely to identify rule breaking as deliberate and cite clients’ dispositions to explain the behavior. In part, this disparity reflects the “fundamental attribution error,” the tendency to overestimate dispositional factors’ role in driving others’ behavior. However, evidence from interviews with welfare fraud workers from five US states reveals the impactful administrative and normative factors that encourage them to make and assert attributions of intentionality and dispositional motivation. First, administrative priorities foreground intentional violations: federal authorities financially incentivize deliberate fraud charges, and managers favor these cases, which permit client suspensions and disqualifications. Second, emphasizing internal motivations over situational pressures serves a valuable normative function, establishing punished clients’ blameworthiness and thus defending the legitimacy of both individual fraud workers and the units they compose. These findings demonstrate how policy structures and enforcement practices do not just respond to blameworthy or legally culpable behavior, but help construct narratives of blameworthiness and culpability.

External Audit Effectiveness: The Case of the Office of Auditor General, Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia

This study examines the external audit effectiveness of the OAG in the Amhara region. Using mixed methods approach, the overall results indicated that the commonly observed audit findings of the region for more than a decade include cash deficit, outstanding receivable and payables, uncollected revenues, abuse of payments, non-compliance with procurement rules and regulations, payment without supporting evidences, improper construction expenditures, and misuse of property. The major reasons for the prevalence of audit findings are lack of professional competency, high staff turnover, poor documentation or record keeping by auditees, poor communication or information exchange, absence of accountability, ignorance and deliberate fraud, and lack of responsibility and enforcement. The study results also confirmed that the external audit has not been effective to reinforce the public fund accountability in the region mainly due to absence of accountability and failure to act by oversight bodies (legislative, executive and judiciary bodies) and auditee’s management based on audit recommendations. The audited institutions do not take timely corrective measures based on recommendations of audit findings mainly due to lack of attention by oversight bodies, absence of proper action on perpetrators at all level of management, living with fear rather than questioning at all levels as well as poor internal control system of auditees. Keywords: Audit effectiveness, Audit findings, Cash Deficit, External audit, Office of auditor General of Amhara Region DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/11-9-08 Publication date: May 31 st 2020

RETRACTED: HBV-encoded miR-2 functions as an oncogene by downregulating TRIM35 but upregulating RAN in liver cancer cells.

BackgroundHepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been well established as a high-risk factor for the carcinogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Cellular microRNA (miRNA) is involved in tumorigenesis by accelerating the malignant phenotype in HCC. However, whether HBV can encode miRNAs that contribute to HCC is not entirely clear.MethodsIn this study, an miRNA encoded by HBV (HBV-miR-2) was identified by Solexa sequencing in HBV-positive HCC specimens and further verified in serum samples from HCC patients with HBV infection and in HBV-positive HCC cell lines. To evaluate the roles of HBV-miR-2 in liver cancer cells, we determined cell viability and migration/invasion ability by gain-of-function experiment in HBV(−) liver cancer cells (HepG2 and Huh7) and loss-of-function experiments in Huh7 cells stably expressing HBV-miR-2 (Huh7/HBV-miR-2 cells) and HepG2.2.15 cells. Furthermore, to elucidate the mechanism by which HBV-miR-2 work on cell malignancy, we identified and studied the effect of two target genes (TRIM35 and RAN) of HBV-miR-2 in liver cancer cells.FindingsWe revealed that HBV-miR-2 promoted HCC cell growth ability by suppressing apoptosis and promoting migration and invasion by enhancing the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), functioning as an oncogene in the development of HBV-related HCC. Furthermore, we demonstrated that HBV-miR-2 suppresses the expression of TRIM35 but enhances RAN expression by targeting their 3′-untranslated regions (3’UTR) and that the ectopic expression of TRIM35 or knockdown of RAN counteracted the malignant phenotypes induced by HBV-miR-2.InterpretationOur findings indicate that an HBV-encoded miRNA, HBV-miR-2, promotes oncogenic activity by downregulating TRIM35 expression and upregulating RAN expression in liver cancer cells, likely providing insight into tumorigenesis in HBV-related liver cancer.FundThis work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No: 81830094; 91629302; 31270818) and the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (No: 12JCZDJC25100).

Lack of Improvement in Scientific Integrity: An Analysis of WoS Retractions by Chinese Researchers (1997-2016).

This study investigated the status quo of article retractions by Chinese researchers. The bibliometric information of 834 retractions from the Web of Science SCI-expanded database were downloaded and analysed. The results showed that the number of retractions increased in the past two decades, and misconduct such as plagiarism, fraud, and faked peer review explained approximately three quarters of the retractions. Meanwhile, a large proportion of the retractions seemed typical of deliberate fraud, which might be evidenced by retractions authored by repeat offenders of data fraud and those due to faked peer review. In addition, a majority of Chinese fraudulent authors seemed to aim their articles which contained a possible misconduct at low-impact journals, regardless of the types of misconduct. The system of scientific evaluation, the "publish or perish" pressure Chinese researchers are facing, and the relatively low costs of scientific integrity may be responsible for the scientific integrity. We suggested more integrity education and severe sanctions for the policy-makers, as well as change in the peer review system and transparent retraction notices for journal administrators.

L’affaire Wakefield et le mouvement anti-vaccination

The focus on the controversy on autism and MMR vaccine aims to show how an identified and revealed fraud may still influence people. To a large extent, this controversy relies on a 1998 Wakefield's publication with clear falsification of data. In 2009, after 7 years of investigation, Brian Deer provide evidence of a deliberate fraud and Wakefield's conflict of interest through his involvement with a lawsuit against manufacturers of the MMR Vaccine. The rise of the anti-vaccination movement, the influence of parents’ associations, and the declining trust in state institutions are analyzed to better understand the impact of this publication on the decrease of vaccination and the resurgence of measles, mumps, rubella, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, and pertussis.

Quantifying Research Integrity

Institutions typically treat research integrity violations as black and white, right or wrong. The result is that the wide range of grayscale nuances that separate accident, carelessness and bad practice from deliberate fraud and malpractice often get lost. This lecture looks at how to quantify the grayscale range in three kinds of research integrity violations: plagiarism, data falsification, and image manipulation. Quantification works best with plagiarism, because the essential one-to one matching algorithms are well known and established tools for detecting when matches exist. Questions remain, however, how many matching words of what kind in what location in which discipline constitute reasonable suspicion of fraudulent intent. Different disciplines take different perspectives on quantity and location. Quantification is harder with data falsification, because the original data are often not available, and because experimental replication remains surprisingly difficult. The same is true with image manipulation, where tools exist for detecting certain kinds of manipulations, but where the tools are also easily defeated. This lecture looks at how to prevent violations of research integrity from a pragmatic viewpoint, and at what steps can institutions and publishers take to discourage problems beyond the usual ethical admonitions. There are no simple answers, but two measures can help: the systematic use of detection tools and requiring original data and images. These alone do not suffice, but they represent a start. The scholarly community needs a better awareness of the complexity of research integrity decisions. Only an open and wide-spread international discussion can bring about a consensus on where the boundary lines are and when grayscale problems shade into black. One goal of this work is to move that discussion forward.