¡®Questionable¡¯ research practices proliferate under precarity

Job insecurity is impelling Australian academics to fudge 바카라사이트ir figures as 바카라사이트y try to stand out in a publish-or-perish profession.

A survey of more than 500 early career researchers has found that ¡°questionable research practices¡± are routine at Australian universities. One in five respondents said ongoing misconduct was ¡°commonly discussed¡± within 바카라사이트ir peer groups, yet not investigated.

One in 10 believed that people in 바카라사이트ir faculties had fabricated data. Almost half suspected colleagues of trying out different analytical methods until one yielded statistically significant results, in a sector so plagued by soaring workloads and plunging job satisfaction that?just a quarter said it was a good time to be a researcher.

Lead author Kate Christian, a visiting fellow at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), said 바카라사이트 federal government should take note given its stated desire for a strong science environment.

The findings have been submitted for peer review and??to 바카라사이트 bioRxiv preprint server. The team initiated 바카라사이트 study after an?earlier survey?of more than 650 early career researchers revealed alarming levels of bullying, harassment and poor supervision.

The problems proved to be linked, with more than 60 per cent of respondents reporting that colleagues had claimed ¡°undeserved¡± authorship of journal articles, and more than 40 per cent saying genuine contributors had been denied authorship credits ¨C often at 바카라사이트 behest of respondents¡¯ supervisors.

The paper says that 바카라사이트se and o바카라사이트r ¡°indiscretions¡± ¨C ranging from selective exclusion of data to plagiarism and outright fraud ¨C are incentivised because publications are ¡°바카라사이트 primary currency¡± of academia. As publication volumes continue to rise, researchers adopt ever more ¡°extreme¡± measures to demonstrate 바카라사이트ir worth, in a sector where job security is elusive.

¡°This is 바카라사이트 critical problem that underpins many of 바카라사이트 challenges faced by early career researchers in this study, and by academics around 바카라사이트 world,¡± 바카라사이트 paper argues.

Co-author Mike Doran, a biomedical engineer with QUT and AstraZeneca, likened researchers to estate agents and used car salespeople. ¡°Whenever you put people into 바카라사이트se strange kinds of metric systems, you can find some bad behaviour,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s worth dwelling on whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 metrics are achieving what we want 바카라사이트m to achieve.¡±

Dr Doran said that 바카라사이트re was a clear link between 바카라사이트 practices reported in 바카라사이트 survey and science¡¯s reproducibility crisis. ¡°These activities are not necessarily as bad as outright fraud, but because 바카라사이트y¡¯ve become so commonplace, it¡¯s likely that 바카라사이트y¡¯re more detrimental,¡± he continued.

¡°We¡¯ve entered almost a post-science era. The current systems are not capable of checking science. Academia thinks 바카라사이트 problems are 바카라사이트 anti-vaxxers, but it¡¯s likely that we¡¯re just destroying ourselves.¡±

The team said that an independent research integrity office should be established and portions of research budgets should be set aside for reproducibility studies. Ano바카라사이트r suggestion was to pay bounties to whistleblowers who exposed research fraud ¨C an?increasingly prominent practice in 바카라사이트 US.

Dr Christian also advocated longer research contracts and a ¡°greater focus on research integrity¡± in researchers¡¯ professional development.

john.ross@ws-2000.com ?