[Scientific misconduct: A major threat for medical research]

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F Barde1, N Peiffer-Smadja2, A de La Blanchardière3

  • 1Service de rhumatologie, Hôpital Bicêtre, AP-HP, 94270 Le-Kremlin-Bicêtre, France.

La Revue De Medecine Interne
|February 29, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Scientific misconduct, including fabrication and plagiarism, affects 2% of researchers, while detrimental practices impact 33%. These issues have severe consequences for medical professionals and patient health, necessitating urgent cultural change.

Area of Science:

  • Medical research integrity
  • Scientific ethics
  • Research misconduct

Background:

  • Scientific misconduct (fabrication, falsification, plagiarism) and detrimental research practices (selective reporting, inappropriate citation, ghostwriting) pose significant threats to scientific validity.
  • These issues are prevalent, with 2% of researchers admitting to misconduct and 33% to detrimental practices.

Observation:

  • The consequences of scientific misconduct and detrimental research practices are severe, impacting researchers (especially doctors due to retractions) and patients.
  • Patients are particularly vulnerable to false information that can lead to adverse health outcomes.

Findings:

  • Key causes include promotion based on quantitative criteria, inadequate scientific integrity training, variable peer review quality, and legal impunity.
  • Existing legislative, academic, technological, and editorial solutions are insufficient without a fundamental cultural shift.

Implications:

  • Urgent cultural change is paramount to effectively combat scientific misconduct and detrimental research practices.
  • Addressing the root causes is essential to protect both the medical research community and public health.
  • A multi-faceted approach, including improved training and revised evaluation metrics, is needed to foster a culture of integrity.
Keywords:
FraudFraudeIntégrité de la rechercheMauvaise conduite scientifiqueResearch integrityRetracted publicationsRétractations d’articlesScientific misconduct

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