Any method of employing dubious means like plagiarism, cheating, or manipulating data in any academic endeavour is termed academic dishonesty. Completely unacceptable, academic dishonesty is considered unethical as it poses a profound threat to the very foundation of scholarly inquiry. Students, researchers and even senior researchers and professors should always be aware that indulging in any activity that compromises academic honesty and fair practices can lead to grave consequences. It can also jeopardize their academic or professional careers.
Different types of research misconduct
Academic dishonesty can manifest in various forms in the context of science and research, all of which undermine the principles of honesty, transparency, and credibility upon which the scientific community relies. The most serious types of research misconduct are plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification. These need to be avoided at all costs as they severely affect the integrity of the whole research process. The reputation of the researcher will also be highly compromised, and this will negatively affect their academic and professional growth.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the use of another person’s work without providing due credit. It can involve using someone else’s ideas, concepts, processes, and results, copying whole or parts of work, paraphrasing sections, and using different sources to pass it on as one’s work without proper citation. Using one’s own previous published work without citing yourself also constitutes plagiarism.
Fabrication: Creating research data and results without actually conducting relevant research and reporting these as original and actual amounts to fabrication. Making claims about findings based on incomplete data sets also falls under this category. This type of misconduct not only compromises the accuracy of scientific knowledge but also erodes the trust placed in the research community.
Falsification: The act of omitting research data or results or manipulating research instruments, processes and materials refers to falsification. For example, to support a particular claim, if the researcher manipulates the process or changes data to suit the claim, it amounts to falsification. Manipulation of images involving distorting, introducing, or removing features is also a case of falsification. Such practices compromise the reliability and validity of scientific findings.
Unethical authorship practices: Many such practices are standard, such as gift authorship, guest authorship and ghost authorship. Gift or honorary authorship occurs when a person who has not contributed substantially to the intellectual content of the study is also credited as an author. This happens when a head of the department, a senior investigator, or a senior academic is given credit as an author, even when they have performed only a supervisory role. Guest authorship occurs when a known academic or an influential person in the field lends their name to the study despite little or no intellectual contribution to the study to give credibility to the study. Ghost authorship occurs when a person who substantially contributed to the work has not been credited as an author.
Failure to disclose conflict of interest: Authors and researchers need to disclose conflicts of interest that may arise regarding financial gains, personal relationships, or based on any strong ideology or belief. Failure to disclose such conflicts amounts to general academic dishonesty. Even if there is no conflict of interest, it is essential to give a declaration amounting to the same. Not doing so undermines the transparency and accountability associated with authorship in scientific publications.
Misappropriation of funds: The misappropriation of funds, equipment or property is also classified under general misconduct. Academic institutions, funding agencies, and professional associations take such misconduct seriously, leading to damaged reputations, job loss, or the revocation of research grants.
Tips to maintain research integrity
It is crucial to follow some general practices, as outlined below, to avoid academic dishonesty and maintain research integrity.
- While determining authorship, ensure inclusion of only those persons as authors who have substantially contributed to the conceptualization, design, conduct, interpretation and writing of the research study. Other persons should be acknowledged for their respective contributions in the acknowledgement section. Guest, gift, or ghost authorship should not be used.
- To avoid plagiarism, students and early career researchers need to understand what constitutes plagiarism. In order to avoid falling into this practice even unintentionally, try to gain familiarity with the different citation styles followed by your specific discipline or institution. Institutional guidelines will be helpful in this regard, as well as discussing with your mentors and supervisors.
- Maintaining research records according to respective institutional practices, including that of data in the course of the research process, is essential. In addition, making available the data sets along with coding when the research study results are made public is also critical in ensuring the integrity of the research.
- Discuss any potential conflict of interest with your supervisors or with the journal editors before sending your paper for publication.
Academic dishonesty is a serious offence that can result in severe consequences and damage the integrity of the research community. By upholding research integrity, we can ensure that research outcomes are trustworthy and credible, and contribute to the advancement of knowledge and society.
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