Understanding Research Misconduct: A Comparative Analysis of 120 Cases of Professional Wrongdoing

DuBois, James M.; Anderson, Emily E.; Chibnall, John T.; Carroll, Kelly; Gibb, Tyler; Ogbuka, Chiji; Rubbelke, Timothy

doi:10.1080/08989621.2013.822248

Cited by 65 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…We also identified differences in the quality-related characteristics, which imply that reports with refused interviews have a lower quality than reports with successful interviews. Finally, and most importantly, it cannot be emphasized enough that scientific misconduct occurs in many disciplines and many countries in the world, including Japan, the UK and the USA, as well as many other countries [ 23 – 28 ]. This study focused on recent reports of supposedly randomized trials of new generation antidepressants and antipsychotics in the largest Chinese database, in the current contexts of their exponential increase and their suspected quality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of randomized controlled trials of new generation antidepressants and antipsychotics identified in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI): a literature and telephone interview study

Zheng

Ogawa

et al. 2018

BMC Med Res Methodol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundWe are witnessing an exponential increase in the number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reported from mainland China. The increase is particularly notable in the field of new generation antidepressants and antipsychotics. Several previous studies have raised doubts regarding their quality. However, the quality of most recent RCTs published in China may have improved.MethodsWe searched RCTs that examined new generation antidepressants and antipsychotics published between 2013 and 2016 in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), the largest database of scientific publications in China. We interviewed the authors of a random subset of the identified references. We assessed the methodological rigor of each study based on the published reports and telephone interviews with the authors using six methodological domains adapted from the Cochrane’s risk of bias tool.ResultsThe final sample consisted of 138 studies, for which we interviewed 58 authors; the authors of 51 studies declined the interview, and the authors of 29 studies could not be contacted. The 51 studies with refused interviews were significantly less likely to be reported from university-affiliated hospitals and were less likely to be published in Chinese core journals. Based on the published reports, most of the 58 studies were assessed to be at unclear risk of bias in most methodological domains. After the interview, only 10 studies were assessed to be at low risk of bias for sequence generation and allocation concealment. Assuming that the studies for which the authors declined interviews had an unclear risk, the proportion of RCTs at low risk of bias in both sequence generation and allocation concealment was 9.2% (10/109, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.0 to 16.2). The interviews indicated that the studies were at high risk of bias for most of the other domains.ConclusionIn general, RCTs that evaluate new generation antidepressants or antipsychotics and are indexed in the CNKI continue to be of low quality. When conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses in this field, it would be wise to include a specialist from China as a coresearcher to help assess the risk of bias in the identified studies.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12874-018-0554-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of randomized controlled trials of new generation antidepressants and antipsychotics identified in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI): a literature and telephone interview study

Zheng

Ogawa

et al. 2018

BMC Med Res Methodol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition, it should be underlined that there is no shortage of codes of conduct and guides [2,3,13]. Several authors underlined the complexity of the matter: environment can create an opportunity for misconduct, stress can be associated with diminished ethical decision making, and previous unfair treatment leads to reproduction of wrongdoing (for references see Dubois [14]).…”

Section: Lack Of Moralmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responsible scientific research at Inserm: a field study

Estienne

Chevalier

Fagard

et al. 2020

Int. J. Metrol. Qual. Eng.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In France, Inserm (National Institute of Health And Medical Research) puts considerable effort into scientific integrity and quality management since more than 10 yr. Quality managers are present in about one hundred of the three hundred Inserm Units (the "Unit" at Inserm is an individualized research laboratory, with a head which is nominated by the President of Inserm and a defined life span. Usually, Units are the result of partnerships of Inserm with universities, university hospitals and other research organizations). When Quality management audits are performed, various dysfunctions are noted. Some of these are related to scientific integrity and Questionable Research Practice. Since an increasing number of Inserm Units disposes of Quality management systems according to the ISO 9001 standard, Inserm promotes since several years ISO 9001 management concepts and tools to improve scientific integrity. "Scientific integrity" as used in the missions of the (American) Office of Research Integrity (ORI, https://ori.hhs.gov/ policies-ori-mission) and materialized in the Singapore statement on Research integrity (https://wcrif.org/ statement). The Singapore Statement is not a regulatory document and does not represent the official policies of the countries represented at the conference. Rather, the intent of the Singapore Statement is to provide ethical guidance which research organizations, governments, and scientists can use to develop policies, regulations, and codes of conduct (World Conference on Research Integrity, https://wcrif.org/ statement). Inserm, like others (Bouter, Account. Res. 22, 148-161 (2015)), believes that ISO 9001 research management favors good quality and integrity of research. In this field study the degree of awareness and whether scientists in Inserm Units are ready to make specific efforts to foster integrity and quality of their research was investigated. This study shows that a majority of scientists considers integrity and quality as being necessary. However, it appears that knowledge and understanding of integrity and quality in research should be improved. An effort has to be made to increase this level, specific actions have to be taken but scientists at Inserm are willing to make this effort.

show abstract

“…Previous work by our team found that such work is feasible for three reasons. First, large convenience samples of cases can be obtained by culling publicly available records from medical boards and court cases; second, a wide variety of variables can be reliably coded to generate rich descriptions of cases and causal theories; and third, the MMO framework provides a useful theoretical lens for analyzing the complex causal factors that contribute to the occurrence of serious professional breaches [ 14 , 15 , 33 ]. The present study applied this approach to the study of invasive procedures such as stents or surgeries that were deemed unnecessary by medical boards, courts, or federal prosecutors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring unnecessary invasive procedures in the United States: a retrospective mixed-methods analysis of cases from 2008-2016

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundUnnecessary invasive procedures risk harming patients physically, emotionally, and financially. Very little is known about the factors that provide the motive, means, and opportunity (MMO) for unnecessary procedures.MethodsThis project used a mixed-methods design that involved five key steps: (1) systematically searching the literature to identify cases of unnecessary procedures reported from 2008 to 2016; (2) identifying all medical board, court, and news records on relevant cases; (3) coding all relevant records using a structured codebook of case characteristics; (4) analyzing each case using a MMO framework to develop a causal theory of the case; and (5) identifying typologies of cases through a two-step cluster analysis using variables hypothesized to be causally related to unnecessary procedures.ResultsSeventy-nine cases met inclusion criteria. The mean number of documents or sources examined for each case was 36.4. Unnecessary procedures were performed for at least five years in most cases (53.2%); 56.3% of the cases involved 30 or more patients, and 37.5% involved 100 or more patients. In nearly all cases the physician was male (96.2%) and working in private practice (92.4%); 57.0% of the physicians had an accomplice, 48.1% were 50 years of age or older, and 40.5% trained outside the U.S. The most common motives were financial gain (92.4%) and suspected antisocial personality (48.1%), followed by poor problem-solving or clinical skills (11.4%) and ambition (3.8%). The most common environmental factors that provided opportunity for unnecessary procedures included a lack of oversight (40.5%) or oversight failures (39.2%), a corrupt moral climate (26.6%), vulnerable patients (20.3%), and financial conflicts of interest (13.9%).ConclusionsUnnecessary procedures usually appear motivated by financial gain and occur in settings that have oversight problems. Preventive efforts should focus on early detection by peers and institutions, and decisive action by medical boards and federal prosecutors.

show abstract

Understanding Research Misconduct: A Comparative Analysis of 120 Cases of Professional Wrongdoing

Cited by 65 publications

References 34 publications

Quality of randomized controlled trials of new generation antidepressants and antipsychotics identified in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI): a literature and telephone interview study

Quality of randomized controlled trials of new generation antidepressants and antipsychotics identified in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI): a literature and telephone interview study

Responsible scientific research at Inserm: a field study

Exploring unnecessary invasive procedures in the United States: a retrospective mixed-methods analysis of cases from 2008-2016

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About