Questionable Research Practices and Misconduct Among Norwegian Researchers

Matthias Kaiser; Laura Drivdal; Johs Hjellbrekke; Helene Ingierd; Ole Bjørn Rekdal

doi:10.1007/s11948-021-00351-4

Questionable Research Practices and Misconduct Among Norwegian Researchers

Sci Eng Ethics. 2021 Dec 21;28(1):2. doi: 10.1007/s11948-021-00351-4.

Authors

Matthias Kaiser¹, Laura Drivdal², Johs Hjellbrekke³, Helene Ingierd⁴, Ole Bjørn Rekdal⁵

Affiliations

¹ Center for the Study of the Sciences and Humanities, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. Matthias.kaiser@uib.no.
² Center for the Study of the Sciences and Humanities, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
³ Department of Sociology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
⁴ The National Committees for Research Ethics in Norway, Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Department of Welfare and Participation, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway.

Abstract

This article presents results from the national survey conducted in 2018 for the project Research Integrity in Norway (RINO). A total of 31,206 questionnaires were sent out to Norwegian researchers by e-mail, and 7291 responses were obtained. In this paper, we analyse the survey data to determine attitudes towards and the prevalence of fabrication, falsification and plagiarism (FFP) and contrast this with attitudes towards and the prevalence of the more questionable research practices (QRPs) surveyed. Our results show a relatively low percentage of self-reported FFPs (0.2-0.3%), while the number of researchers who report having committed one of the QRPs during the last three years reached a troublesome 40%. The article also presents a ranking of the perceived severity of FFP and QRPs among Norwegian researchers. Overall, there is a widespread normative consensus, where FFP is considered more troublesome than QRPs.

Keywords: Falsification, fabrication plagiarism (FFP); Questionable research practices (QRPs); Research integrity; Research misconduct.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Attitude
Biomedical Research*
Humans
Plagiarism
Research Design
Research Personnel
Scientific Misconduct*